Professor Daniel Stalder conducts research on the need for closure and cognitive dissonance theory, including in political and close-relationship contexts.

Awards: 3 research- and 4 teaching-based awards, including the Social Psychology Network Action Teaching Award (Honorable Mention) in 2009.

Experience in presenting political psychology: 8 academic or community presentations since 2005 (including 2 invited talks and 2 at national psychology conferences).

Media experience: Consulted by NPR in spring 2012 regarding political psychology and cognitive dissonance theory. Interviewed by Canwest News Service in summer 2010 regarding a gender difference found in his 2010 dissonance publication in "Current Research in Social Psychology." Also interviewed by school newspapers or magazines.

Publications: 14 articles in psychology domains (including political psychology); 7 articles in teaching domains.

Presentations: Over 35 academic or community presentations.

Select recent conference presentations:

Stalder, D. R. (2012, August). Doing LSD in the classroom while watching The Big Bang Theory: Using humor, mnemonics, and popular culture to teach statistics. Presentation at the Sixth Annual Best Practices in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) Teaching Conference, University of Wisconsin-Baraboo/Sauk County.

Stalder, D. R. (2012, May). Subfactors of Need for Closure in Moderating Bias and Persuasion. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago.

Stalder, D. R., Gehler, C. A., & Cook, J. A. (2012, May). The Group-Centrism Scale: Initial Development and Validation. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago.

Stalder, D. R. (2011, May). Updating the bystander-effect literature: The return of safety in numbers. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago.

Stalder, D. R., & Amon, M. (2008, May). Reducing divorce risk through premarital consideration of "for worse": Preliminary evidence. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago.

Stalder, D. R. (2007, August). Political orientation, group-centrism, and subfactors of need for closure. Poster session presented at the annual meeting of the American Psychological Association, San Francisco.

Select recent community presentations:

Stalder, D. R. (2008, October). Politics, personality, and hypocrisy: Using psychology to understand political perceptions, behavior, and party differences. Invited for the Fall 2008 Fairhaven Lecture Series at UW--Whitewater.

Stalder, D. R. (2008, September). The power of the group: Negative and positive group influences on individuals in political, bystander, and other interpersonal contexts. Given as part of the 'Visions and Expressions' lectures at the University of Wisconsin--Waukesha.

Primary Interests:

Aggression, Conflict, Peace
Applied Social Psychology
Attitudes and Beliefs
Causal Attribution
Close Relationships
Group Processes
Person Perception
Personality, Individual Differences
Political Psychology
Research Methods, Assessment

Aggression, Conflict, Peace
Applied Social Psychology
Attitudes and Beliefs
Causal Attribution
Close Relationships
Group Processes

Person Perception
Personality, Individual Differences
Political Psychology
Research Methods, Assessment

Journal Articles:

Stalder, D. R. (2012). A role for social psychology instruction in reducing bias and conflict. Psychology Learning and Teaching, 11, 245-255.
Stalder, D. R. (2012). Investigation of the two-factor model for the English version of the Need for Closure Scale. Psychological Reports, 110, 598-606.
Stalder, D. R. (2012). The role of dissonance, social comparison, and marital status in thinking about divorce. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 29, 302-323.
Stalder, D. R. (2010). Competing roles for the subfactors of need for closure in moderating dissonance-produced attitude change. Personality and Individual Differences, 48, 775-778.
Stalder, D. R. (2010). The power of proverbs: Dissonance reduction through common sayings. Current Research in Social Psychology, 15, 72-81.
Stalder, D. R. (2009). Competing roles for the subfactors of need for closure in committing the fundamental attribution error. Personality and Individual Differences, 47, 701-705.
Stalder, D. R. (2009). Political orientation, hostile media perceptions, and group-centrism. North American Journal of Psychology, 11, 383-399.
Stalder, D. R. (2008). Revisiting the issue of safety in numbers: The likelihood of receiving help from a group. Social Influence, 3, 24-33.
Stalder, D. R. (2007). Need for closure, the Big Five, and public self-consciousness. Journal of Social Psychology, 147, 91-94.
Stalder, D. R. (2005). Learning and motivational benefits of acronym use in introductory psychology. Teaching of Psychology, 32, 222-228.
Stalder, D. R. (2002). Mathematicians, attributional complexity, and gender. Journal of Women and Minorities in Science and Engineering, 8, 149-159.
Stalder, D. R. (2001). The use of discrimination indices in constructing course exams: A question of assumptions. Teaching of Psychology, 28, 278-280.
Stalder, D. R. (2000). Does logic moderate the fundamental attribution error? Psychological Reports, 86, 879-882.
Stalder, D. R., & Baron, R. S. (1998). Attributional complexity as a moderator of dissonance-produced attitude change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 449-455.
Stalder, D. R., & Olson, E. A. (2011). t for two: Using mnemonics to teach statistics. Teaching of Psychology, 38, 247-250.
Stalder, D. R., & Stec, D. A. (2007). Topical and applied interests of introductory psychology students. Journal of Instructional Psychology, 34, 226-233.

Other Publications:

Stalder, D. (July, 2010). Why is men's morality more influenced by peers than women's? Invited essay at Science & Religion Today. [link no longer active]

Courses Taught:

Basic Statistical Methods
Experimental Social Psychology
Individual and Society
Introduction to Psychology
Learning and Conditioning
Life-Span Development
Personality
Psychological Testing
Social Psychology

Basic Statistical Methods
Experimental Social Psychology
Individual and Society
Introduction to Psychology
Learning and Conditioning

Life-Span Development
Personality
Psychological Testing
Social Psychology

Daniel R. Stalder
Department of Psychology
University of Wisconsin--Whitewater
800 W. Main Street
Whitewater, WI 53190
United States

Phone: (262) 472-5419