BIOGRAPHY

I obtained a PhD in Clinical Psychology from the University of Rochester in New York with a research emphasis of Social and Motivational Psychology. Before joining the Department of Psychology at the University of Essex, I was an associate researcher at the University of Hamburg in Germany in the department of Motivation and Education.

RESEARCH OVERVIEW

My main research interests concern the role of human motivation in determining the quality of emotion and interpersonal experiences. This includes the capacity for adaptive self-regulation, such as the regulation of negative emotions and psychological stress, as well as effort and care extended to new interpersonal interactions (such as creative collaborations and prosocial behaviors) and long-lasting relationships (such as romantic relationships and parent-child interactions). I examine the processes by which motivation acts in these domains as well as the implications for the relationship, the individual, and collaborative task performance.

An additional interest is the effect of natural environments on human values and relationships. I examine the function of nature as an energizing agent and a conduit for connecting to one’s environment and to other people.

Currently, I am pursuing three lines of research related to these questions:

1.   Parent-child relationships may be characterized by the autonomy and closeness support parents provide. Relationships in which closeness is nourished but autonomy support is absent may encourage children to introject parents’ values at the expense of non-conditional self-acceptance. As a result, children repress aspects of themselves that they learn are unacceptable. This project considers parents’ roles in their children’s tendencies to suppress unacceptable identity aspects, and the implications for well-being.

2.   Positive, constructive dyadic interactions are either enhanced or thwarted by characteristics specific to the context and to dyad members. The motivational qualities of group members shape their experience and bear functional implications for the success and well-being of the team and its members. In close relationships, such as those between romantic partners, motivational qualities influence sensitivity to partners, abusive or avoidant behaviors during conflict, and capacity for self-disclosure and emotion expression.  In both close relationships and those with strangers, successful interactions involve two complementing aspects: (1) enhancement of positive interpersonal qualities such as empathy, attunement, and closeness, and (2) down-regulation of disruptive interpersonal qualities such as aggression, selfish self-focus, and disconnect.  My work explores the links between types of motivation and well-being after interacting with others, successful collaborative task engagement, and interpersonal processes such as closeness and retribution.

3.   Exposure to nature has been linked to personal well-being and to attitudes and behaviors indicative of close and caring relationships. My current work explores the role of nature in facilitating close relationships with outgroup members. I am particularly interested in the role of natural environments in discouraging aggression toward outgroup and minority members and encouraging empathy and prosocial behaviors.

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

Hodgins, H. S., Weibust, K. S., Weinstein, N., Shiffman, S., Miller, A., & Coombs, G. (in press). The domino effect: The relation of autonomy and control motivation to defensiveness and subsequent performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Weinstein, N., Hodgins, H. S., & Ostvik-White, E. (in press). Humor as aggression: Effects of motivation and hostility on humor appreciation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Weinstein, N., Hodgins, H. S., & Ryan, R. M. (in press). Autonomy and nondefense in dyads: The effect of primed motivation on interaction quality and joint creative performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Weinstein, N., Deci, E. L., & Ryan, R. M. (in press). Motivational determinants of integrating positive and negative past identities. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.   

Weinstein, N., DeHaan, C., & Ryan, R. M. (in press). Attributed motivation and the recipient experience: Perceptions of other, self, and the helping relationship. Motivation and Emotion.

Weinstein, N., & Ryan, R. M. (in press). A motivational approach to stress response and adaptation. Stress and Health.

Weinstein, N., Ryan, R. M., & Deci, E. L. (in press). A self-determination theory perspective on the process and content of life meaning. In P. T. P. Wong & P. S. Fry (Eds.), The Human Quest for Meaning Vol. 2. New York: Guilford.

Ryan, R. M., Weinstein, N., Bernstein, J., Brown, K. W., & Gagné, M. (2010). Vitalizing effects of being outdoors and in nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 30, 2, 159-168.

Weinstein, N., & Ryan, R. M. (2010). When helping helps: An examination of motivational constructs underlying prosocial behavior and their influence on well-being for the helper and recipient. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98, 2, 222-224.

Przybylski, A. K., Weinstein, N., Ryan, R. M., & Rigby, S. C. (2009). When wanting and having to play aren’t the same thing: An examination of the motivational antecedents and well-being consequences of video-game play. CyberPsychology and Behavior, 12, 4, 485-492.

Ryan, R. M., & Weinstein, R. M. (2009). Undermining quality teaching and learning: A self-determination theory perspective on high stakes testing. Theory and Research in Education, 7, 2, 224-233.

Weinstein, N., Brown, K. W., & Ryan, R. M. (2009). A multi-method examination of the effects of mindfulness on stress attribution, coping, and emotional well-being. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 374-385.

Weinstein, N., & Hodgins, H. S. (2009). The moderating role of motivation for written emotion expression. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 3, 351-364.

Weinstein, N., Przybylski, A. K., & Ryan, R. M. (2009). Can nature make us more caring? Effects of immersion in nature on intrinsic aspirations and generosity. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 35, 10, 1315-1329.

Weinstein, N., & Ryan, R. M. (2009). Vitality. In S. J. Lopez (Ed.), Encyclopedia of positive psychology (pp. 1023-1025). NY: Wiley-Blackwell.   

Recent First-Author Presentations:

Weinstein, N., Ryan, W., & DeHaan, C. (2010, July). What kind of parent-child relationships lead to homophobia (and by what mechanism)? In Assor, A. (Chair), A self-determination theory perspective on close relationships. Talk presented at the International Association for Relationships Research Conference, Hertzliya, Israel.

Weinstein, N. (2010, June). Motivation in relationships: The ‘dark’ and ‘light’ sides. Invited talk presented at the Technical University of Munich (TUM), Munich, Germany.

Weinstein, N., & Przybylski, A. K. (2010, May). The autonomous personality as a buffer for value-incongruent primes. In Hodgins, H. S. (Chair), Unconscious Processes in Motivation. Invited talk presented at the 3rd Annual Conference of SDT, Ghent, Belgium.

Weinstein, N., Hodgins, H. S., & Ryan, R. M. (2009, May). Effects of motivational priming on collaborative relationships. In N. Weinstein & L. Legault (Chairs), Implicit and explicit processes in motivation: Validation and applications in interpersonal contexts. Talk presented at the Society for the Study of Motivation meeting, San Francisco CA.

Weinstein, N., Arikan, Y., Hodgins, H. S., & Ryan R. M. (February, 2009). How to succeed at a game of charades: The role of motivation in responsive dyad interactions and creative task engagement. Presented at the meeting of Society and Personality and Social Psychology, Tampa FL.