Skip to main content

Eric Wesselmann

Professor
Psychology
Office
DEG Degarmo Hall 439
  • About
  • Education
  • Awards & Honors
  • Research

Current Courses

365.001Dynamics Of Social Behavior

223.001Social Psychology

290.019Special Projects: Research Apprenticeship

599.019Doctoral Research In Psychology

499.019Independent Research For The Master's Thesis

400.019Independent Study

392.001Senior Seminar

392.003Senior Seminar

223.002Social Psychology

290.019Special Projects: Research Apprenticeship

Teaching Interests & Areas

Social Psychology;
Research Methods;
Psychology & Popular Culture (film/comics/music)

Research Interests & Areas

Social Connection and Exclusion;
Sexual Harassment;
Stigmatization;
Religion/Spirituality;
Moral Decision-Making;
Media, Fandom, & Popular Culture (film/comics/music)

Ph D Personality/Social Psychology

Purdue University

MA Industrial-Organizational/Social Psychology

Illinois State University

BA Psychology

Illinois State University

ISU College of Arts & Sciences Outstanding University Researcher in Social Sciences 2023-2024

Illinois State University
2023

Fellow of the Society of Personality & Social Psychology

Society of Personality & Social Psychology
2022

Janice Witherspoon Neuleib Award for Outstanding Scholarly Achievement 2021-2022

College of Arts & Sciences
2022

Outstanding College Researcher in Social Sciences 2022-2023

College of Arts & Sciences
2021

2017 Alumnus of the Year (Early Career)

ISU Department of Psychology
2017

Fellow of the Society of Experimental Social Psychology

Society of Experimental Social Psychology
2017

Fellow of the Midwestern Psychological Association

Midwestern Psychological Association
2016

Rising Star Designation

Association for Psycholgical Science
2015

Service Initiative Award (Early Career)

Illinois State University
2015

ISU 2015 College of Arts and Sciences Excellence Award for Outstanding Scholarly Achievement of the Year by a Pre-tenured Faculty Member

ISU College of Arts and Sciences
2015

Book, Chapter

DeSouza, E. R., & Wesselmann, E. D. (2022). Subtle discrimination based on gender and gender identity. In I. R. Nascimento, A. L. M. Neves, & L. N. dos Reis (Eds.), Segurança e violências: Perspectivas interdisciplinares [Security and violence: Interdisciplinary perspectives]. Editora CRV Ltda, Curitiba, Brazil. DOI 10.24824/978625122.9
Wesselmann, E. D., & Dvir, M. (2021). Exploring the overlap among workplace ostracism, mistreatment, and related constructs. In C. Liu. & Y. Ma (Eds.), Workplace ostracism: Its nature, antecedents, and consequences (pp. 35-63). Cham, Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan.
Wesselmann, E. D. & Parris, L. (2021). Inclusion, exclusion, and group psychotherapy: The importance of a trauma-informed approach. In C. D. Parks & G. A. Tasca (Eds.), The psychology of groups: The intersection of social psychology and psychotherapy research (pp. 31-50). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
Banks, B. M., Parris, L., & Wesselmann, E. (2019). Words can hurt you: Discrimination through non-physical aggression. In T. Langley & A. Simmons (Eds.), Black Panther Psychology: Hidden Kingdoms (pp. 157-171). New York, NY: Sterling Publishing Company.
Banks, B. M., Parris, L., & Wesselmann, E. D. (2019). Words can hurt you: Discrimination through nonphysical aggression. In T. Langley & A. Simmons (Eds.), Black Panther psychology: Hidden kingdoms (pp. 157-171). New York, NY: Sterling.

Encyclopedia

Pryor, J. B., & Wesselmann, E. D. (2010). Likelihood to Sexually Harass scale. In T. D. Fisher, C. M. Davis, W. L. Yarber, & S. L. Davis (Eds.), Handbook of sexually-related measures (3rd ed.) (pp. 328-330). New York: Routledge.
Williams, K. D., Chen, Z., & Wesselmann, E. D. (2007). Social compensation. In R. F. Baumeister and K. D. Vohs (Eds.), Encyclopedia of social psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Vol. 2, pp. 889-891.
Williams, K. D., Wesselmann, E. D., & Chen, Z. (2007). Social exclusion. In R. F. Baumeister and K. D. Vohs (Eds.), Encyclopedia of social psychology. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. Vol. 2, pp. 896-897.

Journal Article

Wesselmann, E. D., Hesson-McInnis, M. S., Beck, J. S., Atkinson, C. D., & Arellanes, J. A. (2023). Discussing one’s fan interests with others can satisfy or threaten psychological needs. Journal of Fandom Studies. 10(2&3). 157-177. https://doi.org/10.1386/jfs_00061_1
Barelka, A., Bobko, P., & Wesselmann, E. Enhancing the Understanding of Suspicion Development Across Time: Two Studies on Human versus Virtual Teammates, Goal Type, Impulsivity, and Contrast Effects. Behaviour & Information Technology (2022)
Wesselmann, E. D., & Parris, L. (2022). Miscarriage, perceived ostracism, and trauma: A preliminary investigation. Frontiers in Psychology, 12. https://www.frontiersin.org/articles/10.3389/fpsyg.2021.747860/full
Jones, E. E., Ramsey, A. T., Wesselmann, E. D., Jaffe Rosenthal, H., & Hesson-McInnis, M. S. (2021). Being ostracized versus out of the loop: Redundant or unique predictors of variance in workplace outcomes? Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 51, 17-31. https://doi.org/10.1111/jasp.12712
McDaniel, B. T., & Wesselmann, E. D. “You phubbed me for that?” (2021). Reason given for phubbing and perceptions of interaction quality and exclusion. Human Behavior and Emerging Technologies. https://doi.org/10.1002/hbe2.255

Newsletter

Leja, A. M., & Wesselmann, E. D. (2013). Invisible youth: Understanding Ostracism in Our Schools. Communique. 42 (4), pp. 1, 6.

Presentations

Cultivating Student Belonging and Success through a Collectivist Campus Community. University-Wide Teaching & Learning Symposium. Illinois State University. (2023)
Miscarriage, perceived ostracism, and trauma in mothers and fathers.. Midwestern Psychological Association. (2023)
Investigating Ostracism and Racial Microaggressions toward Afro-Brazilians. Midwestern Psychological Association. Midwestern Psychological Association. (2020)
*Wesselmann, E. D., DeSouza, E. R., & AuBuchon, S. (2020, May). Studying microaggressions as a form of social exclusion. Presentation at the meeting for the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL. (Conference canceled)
Jordan, J. S., Carpenter, S., Dandridge, V., Hintz, V., Kim, D. J., & Wesselmann, E. D. (2020, March). Wakanda forever! The psychology of Black Panther. Panel presentation at Chicago Comic and Entertainment Expo, Chicago, IL.
Jordan, J. S., Carpenter, S., Dandridge, V., Hintz, V., Kim, D. J., & Wesselmann, E. D. (2020, March). Wakanda forever! The psychology of Black Panther. Panel presentation at ConFromHome. https://confromhome.com/; https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HBzMPUYJZC4&feature=share&fbclid=IwAR2s0OZyamvVmPPVcroqRnZfN2wxwoY273STmzxvNrgUoax9hIe-5PHDGZU
Myers, J., Daluga, M., Wesselmann, E. D., Parris, L., & Swerdlik, M. (2020, April). Social support, perceived ostracism, and posttraumatic stress symptoms among veterans. Poster at the meeting for the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL. (Conference canceled)
Pederson, T., Atkinson, C., Daluga, M., Bajaczyk, A., & Wesselmann, E. D. (2020, April). When does having one’s fan interests ignored threaten psychological needs? Poster at the meeting for the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL. (Conference canceled)
Sparks, Z., Wesselmann, E. D., Sacco, D., & Wirth, J. H. (2020, April). The Goldilocks’ effect: Determining when eye contact is not too much or not too little. Poster at the meeting for the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL. (Conference canceled)
Wesselmann, E. D. (2020, April). Discussing one’s fan interests can satisfy or threaten psychological needs. Presentation at the meeting for the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL. (Conference canceled)

Grants & Contracts

CAS Faculty Research Award (FRA). Illinois State University. Illinois State University. (2019)
ISU Summer Faculty Fellowship (SFF). Illinois State University. Illinois State University. (2018)
Sage Foundation Speaker Fund. Illinois State University. Illinois State University. (2018)
ISU College of Arts and Sciences International Travel Grant. Illinois State University. Illinois State University. (2017)
The Role of Social Exclusion in Motivating Muslim Radicalism: An Experimental Investigation and a Proposed Remedy. American Psychological Association - Division 36 (Psychology of Religion and Spirituality) Research Seed Grant. Other. (2016)