There’s no denying it. We love our Alumni! The Psychology department at Roanoke College is an inclusive group that wants everyone to feel welcomed into our community, both before and after your graduation! If COVID-19 has shown us anything, it is that connections are more important than ever. This post is outlining some ways for our Alumni (old or brand-new) can stay connected with the Psychology department.
1. Social Media Accounts
The Psychology department has a couple different social media accounts that Alumni are encouraged to follow and engage with. The first is our Instagram, @rcpsychology. Our posts are always fun to look through, but make sure you’re also staying up-to-date with our Instagram stories!
And let’s not forget about Facebook! Our account on Facebook is used similarly to our Instagram. You can find information on research, events, alumni updates, shared articles, and so much more. Our account is again, @rcpsychology.
And finally, Twitter! The Psychology department at RC is full of kindness and humor, which makes students and professors alike spend a lot of time scrolling through Twitter. The department’s account is @RC_Psychology.
2. The Psychology Blog
Good news! If you’re reading this, you’re already one step closer to becoming an active alumni for the psychology department. We hope you enjoy taking a look through these blog posts and staying in the loop on what is happening for RC Psychology, both on and off campus. Here you can find similar news and stories to the ones shared on our socials, but you may get more frequent updates with details.
3. LinkedIn
You guys already know the drill. Join the department’s LinkedIn group to stay informed on news, jobs, and graduate school information. Multiple faculty members are a part of the group, along with alumni and current students!
4. Reaching Out
Don’t forget that no matter how you stay involved, the Roanoke College Psychology community is eager to welcome you as an alumni. Feel free to reach out the faculty via email to share opportunities, hear about departmental news, or even to just catch up with your favorite professors!
Congratulations to Abbie Joseph ’21 for the successful defense of her Honors in the Major Project! Her project was titled “Cyberstalking Behaviors After the Use of Ghosting”. Her supervisor, Dr. Darcey N. Powell was joined by committee members, Dr. Osterman and Dr. Berntson, to oversee her defense.
Project Abstract:
The purpose of the current study was to examine the differences in cyberstalking behaviors after the dissolution of a romantic interaction based on the dissolution strategy used (i.e., ghosting or explicit reasoning). Participants included emerging adults between the ages of 18 and 29 (N = 240) who had a romantic interaction end. A survey was used to collect information regarding participants’ most recent relationship dissolution, their experiences with ghosting and cyberstalking, their engagement in cyberstalking behaviors towards an ex-partner and the ex-partner’s new partner, their social media app usage, and their relationships with their ex-partner. Analyses revealed that participants whose most recent romantic interaction ended via ghosting did not engage in significantly more cyberstalking behaviors than participants whose most recent romantic interaction ended via explicit reasoning. There were no significant differences in the length of engagement in cyberstalking behaviors after the breakup between participants whose relationship ended through ghosting and participants whose relationship ended explicitly. There were no significant differences in engagement of cyberstalking behaviors between participants who initiated the ghosting and participants who were ghosted. Participants who were ghosted engaged in cyberstalking behaviors to seek out information about their ex-partner and the ex-partner’s new partner. The findings of the current study provide information on how the dissolution strategy is associated with post-dissolutional cyberstalking behaviors.
Congratulations again to Abbie Joseph on a successful defense and we look forward to seeing all you accomplish in the future!
Congratulations to Dr. Powell on her recent publishing in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, titled “A multi-study examination of attachment and implicit theories of relationships in ghosting experiences.”
Abstract: “Ghosting is a dissolution strategy where the initiator ends all communication with the other person, ignoring attempts to reestablish the interaction. We examined the associations between attachment (i.e., anxiety/avoidance) and ghosting, and replicated previous work on implicit theories of relationships (i.e., growth/destiny) and ghosting. Study 1 (N = 165) was an exploratory analysis of attachment and ghosting experiences, with those previously ghosted by a romantic partner reporting higher anxiety than those not previously ghosted by a romantic partner. Those who had ghosted a partner reported more avoidance than those who had not previously ghosted a partner. Study 2 (N = 247) was a pre-registered replication of Study 1 and replication of ghosting and implicit theories. Study 3 was pre-registered and replicated the findings from Studies 1 and 2 with a substantially larger sample (N = 863). Specifically, individuals who had been ghosted or had both ghosted and been ghosted reported significantly higher anxiety than those who had ghosted or had no prior ghosting experience. Individuals who had ghosted or had both ghosted and been ghosted reported significantly higher avoidance than those with no prior ghosting experience. Similarly, individuals who had ghosted or had both ghosted and been ghosted reported significantly higher destiny beliefs than those who had been ghosted or had no prior experience with ghosting. Finally, a meta-analysis across the three studies examined the strength of the associations between ghosting experiences and attachment. Taken together, these studies consistently demonstrate an association between attachment anxiety and being ghosted, as well as destiny beliefs and ghosting a romantic partner.”
For more information on the article, followthis link,and once again congratulations to Dr. Powell for her recent publication!
Calling all recently declared psychology majors! The Psychology Department is excited about your interest in the field that we love, and are passionate about working with you to explore the many facets of psychology and prepare you for life after graduation!
If you have recently declared the major, we want to welcome you to the department this Wednesday or Thursday through the New Majors Orientation event! This event will be held via Zoom and all-new majors, including those who missed the event in the past, are welcome to join!
Want to get ahead or catch up? Just want to take an interesting course? You might be interested in taking summer courses.
This summer the psychology department is offering five summer classes in 2021, three in the first term and two in the second term. All courses still have seats available. See below for which classes are being taught in which term, who they are being taught by, and their times. This information can also be found on self-service which is also where you can sign up for these courses.
See our class registration 101 blog post found here to refresh on how to do so.
Congratulations to Naomi Painter and Ben Campbell for being selected as Summer Scholars!
Roanoke College’s Summer Scholar Program is designed for serious students who want to use their summers wisely and work one-on-one with faculty. Every year, students compete for selection to receive one of the summer scholarships. Faculty from across the college review student research proposals and decide these prestigious awards.
Naomi will be working with Buchholz on her project in light of the occurrence of the COVID-19 pandemic and issues involving prejudice and discrimination where she intends to examine the effects of disgust on the presence of prejudicial responses and the individual differences that contribute to said relationship.
Ben will be working with Dr. Findley-Van Nostrand on his project, inspired by his interest in traditional or toxic masculinity, where he intends to research the effects of jealousy on threatened masculinity and relational aggression (i.e., aggression used to harm peer relationships) use.
Internships are one of the main forms of experiential learning experiences offered at Roanoke College and within the psychology department. Each semester, our department sends students to work with various different organizations, across a number of fields or professions within psychology, to gain exposure to the field and to share their experiences with the department and other students on campus.
While COVID-19 has come with many challenges, this semester, many internships were able to resume, allowing one student, Kait Gifford ’21, to gain an internship that allowed her to overlap her two academic areas of interest, psychology and criminal justice. Specifically, this semester, Kait Gifford has been interning with the Salem Commonwealth Attorney’s Office. Continue reading to learn more about this experience and what Gifford does during this internship.
Can you tell me more about your internship?
At my internship, I have gotten to review past and current criminal cases here in Salem. I pretty much have free range over the case files including any important videos from the crime scenes, witness statements, and any other supporting documents which is very interesting and exhilarating. After I have reviewed the cases, I report what I have learned back to the Commonwealth Attorney and we discuss the pertinent portions of the cases and what would be relevant at trial.
What drew you to interning at the Commonwealth Attorney?
I was actually recommended to this internship by Interim Chief of Campus Safety, Joe Mills. I am a student dispatcher at Campus Safety and I knew that I wanted to have an internship that combined psychology and criminal justice. I want to go into Forensic Psychology, and I felt that this internship would give me a better handle on some of the legislative principles of the field, while also allowing me to apply what I have learned through my psychology courses at Roanoke.
What does a normal day look like for you?
For the most part, I spend the majority of my time at my internship pouring over the case files. However, I also sit in court and watch court proceedings and trials in addition to talking to the people that work in the different aspects of the court system. I feel that this has been particularly interesting and beneficial for me because everyone takes different paths, so it is interesting to hear how some of the essential people to the courts have made it to where they are today.
Thanks again to Kait Gifford ’21 for sharing this experience, and if you are interested in completing an internship, you can reach out to the psychology department’s internship director, Dr. Findley-Van Nostrand, as well as check out the Psychology Departments, and Career Services websites for more information and resources.
We have all struggled throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, but along with the bad days came some very good ones! Psychology students at Roanoke College are no exception to this experience. This post is highlighting some of the good that has come out of the past year: we are so proud of all of our students, but we especially want to shoutout the following graduates who have made the best of their situation and are one step closer to living their dream!
Rachel Harmon
Rachel Harmon graduated after the Spring 2020 semester. We recently heard that she will be entering graduate school at the University of Alabama in the Fall of 2021! She will be working towards her Ph.D. in Clinical Child Psychology. Congratulations Rachel!
Sophie Bacon
Sophie Bacon graduated after the Spring 2020 semester. We were so excited to hear that she will be working towards her Masters in Human Development Counseling! She will be completing her masters degree in graduate school at Vanderbilt University in the Fall of 2021. Congrats Sophie!
Ji’Asia Anderson
Ji’Asia Anderson is a recent graduate from Roanoke College. We are so proud to hear that she will be entering the workforce through a company called New Essecare of NJ as a case manager! This company focuses on helping people with mental illnesses in their daily lives and making sure that they are able to have basic skills to cope with their triggers and live independently. Congratulations!
Ji’Asia says that “you can tell that the people we work with appreciate the help and sometimes it’s the only help that they can get to help with their basic needs. I usually help my clients with making doctor appointments or finding primary doctors, working through coping skills to help them control their triggers for their disorders or help them identify them if they aren’t aware of their triggers. I talk to my clients daily to evaluate how they are doing and help provide them with activities to do at home, since most of them are bored and stressed out from being at home most of the day.”
In addition to the amazing work of the alumni showcased above, soon-to-be-graduated students like Lauren Powell are also working harder than ever!
Lauren Powell is graduating at the end of this semester and has already solidified her plans to go to graduate school. She will be getting her M.Ed. in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from the University of Lynchburg. She is excited because the department there seems a lot like the psychology department at Roanoke in that it is tightly knit and everyone is close.
“I am so sad to leave Roanoke behind but my time here was incredible and I’m excited to move forward with my education. I know Roanoke prepared me well.” – Powell
From April 15-17, Roanoke College will be holding their annual Alumni Weekend virtually to bring Maroons together from all over the world to celebrate. On Friday, April 16th, the psychology department will be hosting a psychology reception from 3:30 to 5:30 pm hosted via Gatherly. You can sign up for Alumni Weekend by clicking this link. Come join us to see your favorite Psychology faculty members!
It’s almost that time of year again: registration time! Advisors might be reaching out to you either this week or the next to set up meetings since registration will begin on Monday, April 19th. Students should be notified about their registration time in the next few weeks through email and it should be visible on self-service as well. Thus, this post will provide a simple step-by-step guide on how to register for classes as well as some helpful reminders!
How to Register
Self Service helps to organize and visualize your class schedule. The following link should bring you to the self-service login page. Your username and password is the same for self-service as it is for inquire.
After you log in, you should see the student home page seen below. Click on Student Planning near the bottom left, above Grades.
This should bring you to the student planning page where you can either check your academic progress or register for classes. Click on Plan for your Degree & Register for Classes on the right side of the screen (seen below).
Finally, you’ve reached the page where you can schedule your courses. Here is where register for You can use the arrows near the top left to change between terms. To add courses to your schedule, you can search for courses at the top right search bar.
Let’s say you wanted to add psychology 251 to your schedule. You would type it into the search bar and you should be brought the course catalog seen below. Clicking on “Add Course to Plan” and selecting a term won’t put the available class sections on your schedule, it will only show the class on the left sidebar in the planned classes. You’ll have to manually add a section by clicking view other sections.
If you click on “View Available Sections for PSYC-251” you’ll see all sections available for both the current and next term as shown below. Make sure you scroll down and click on “Add Section to Schedule” on a section under Fall Term, 2021.
You can also follow this post for instructions on how to register on the Ellucian Go app.
On the day of your registration time, a button should appear that says “Register Now” on the right that if pushed should register you for all classes currently on your course schedule. A confirmation email should be sent that notifies you of what classes you have registered for.
If you would like to see these steps in action, Roanoke College provides two videos on using Self-Service to plan schedules.
Meet with your advisor. Some advisors should be reaching out to you this week if they haven’t already for a pre-registration advising meeting. If not, it might be a good idea to reach out to them first. It’s always a great idea to meet with your advisor just to check in with them to make sure you’re taking the right classes and that you’re on the right track to graduate on time.
Your advisor can help you indicate what classes are available next semester but you can (and should) look at what is being offered through self-service by typing in the class name or number in the search bar in self-service. You can also look for general types of classes. For example, if you wanted to see all psychology classes, you would type in psychology in the search bar. You can also search courses through the course catalog on self-service or the directory.
Before you meet with your advisor, pick classes that are required and/or that you want to take and make a draft of your schedule using self-service. Class registration goes in order with those who have the most credits prior to the current term picking their classes first so it is possible that you may not get your first choices. That’s okay! Having a plan B and sometimes even a plan C helps reduce disappointment and worry about not taking classes that are interesting to you but also meet requirements. Here you can check the requirements for majors and concentrations in the psychology department.
Remember being early is being on time. Opening self-service a few minutes before your designated time and making sure you’re ready to push that register button may be the difference in you getting your first choice or second choice or not.