Sean McCrea
Assistant Professor
motivation, self, social cognition, judgment
Social Psychology

Ph.D., Indiana University 2002

B.A., Bucknell University 1996

smccrea@uwyo.edu • (307) 766-6149 • Bio Sciences Bldg 130

Office Hours: M,W,F 11:00am-12:00pm & by appointment

Academic positions
2009-present  Assistant professor, University of Wyoming

2003-2009  Assistant professor for Motivational and Social psychology, University of Konstanz, Konstanz, Germany

Research Interests:
My current research interests broadly focus on the interplay of motivational and cognitive processes. Our laboratory is currently focusing on the role of mental simulation in planning and performance, particularly in the context of self-protective behaviors such as self-handicapping. We also conduct research on the motivational bases for self-handicapping and personality differences in the use of this strategy. In addition, our laboratory is investigating the implications of the mental representation of tasks on procrastination.

Other areas of research and interest include biases in counterfactual thinking and regret, ingroup favoritism, planning and goal pursuit, and judgment and decision making.

Teaching:
Fall 2009:

• Research Methods in Psychology

Spring 2010:

• Motivation
• Advanced Social Psychology

 Press Appearances

Self-handicapping:

• New York Times (Jan. 6, 2009)

Procrastination:

• Newsweek Online (Dec. 10, 2008)
• The Economist (Jan 24th, 2009 Edition)
• The New York Times (Jan. 31, 2009)
• Wissenschaft Aktuell (Jan. 13, 2009)
• Deutsche Welle (radio interview; Jan. 21, 2009)

Publications:

Book Chapters and Invited Papers

McCrea, S. M., Myers, A. L., & Hirt, E. R. (in press). Self-handicapping as an anticipatory self-protection strategy. To appear in F. Columbus (Ed). New Research in Social Psychology. Hauppuage, NY: Nova Science.

Gollwitzer, P. M., Wieber, F., Myers, A. L., & McCrea, S. M. (in press). How to maximize implementation intention effects? To appear in: C. R. Agnew, D. E. Carlston, W. G. Graziano, J. R. Kelly, (eds), Then a miracle occurs: Focusing on behavior in social psychological theory and research. New York: Oxford Press.

Journal Articles

McCrea, S. M., & Hirt, E. R. (in press). Match madness: Probability matching in predictions of the NCAA basketball tournament. Journal of Applied Social Psychology. [more info]

Hirt, E. R., Devers, E. E., McCrea, S. M. (2008). I want to be creative: Exploring the role of hedonic contingency theory in the positive mood-cognitive flexibility link. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 94, 214-230. [more info]

McCrea, S. M., & Hirt, E. R., & Milner, B. J. (2008). She works hard for the money: Valuing effort underlies gender differences in behavioral self-handicapping. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 292-311. [more info]

McCrea, S. M., Hirt, E. R., Hendrix, K. L., Milner, B. J., & Steele, N. L. (2008). The Worker scale: Developing a measure to explain gender differences in behavioral self-handicapping. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 949-970. [more info]

McCrea, S. M., Liberman, N., Trope, Y., & Sherman, S. J. (2008). Construal level and procrastination. Psychological Science, 19, 1308-1314. [more info]

McCrea, S. M. (2008). Self-handicapping, excuse-making, and counterfactual thinking: Consequences for self-esteem and future motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 95, 274-292. [more info]

Recent Presentations

Myers, A. L., & McCrea, S. M. (Jan 2009). Do counterfactuals increase motivation via dissatisfaction with performance? Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Tampa, Florida.

Myers, A. L. & McCrea, S. M. (Sept 2008). Is dissatisfaction with performance sufficient to increase motivation via counterfactuals? Presented at the annual meeting of the European Social Cognition Network, Volterra, Italy.

McCrea, S. M., & Myers, A. L. (Sept 2008). Self-protection and self-improvement motives in counterfactual thinking. Presented at the annual meeting of the European Social Cognition Network, Volterra, Italy.

Research Grants

Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) Grant MC 68/2-1, 2009-2011: A Self-Evaluation Model of Upward Counterfactual Thinking (sean McCrea in collaboration with Peter Gollwitzer, Univ. of Konstanz)

Service:

Affiliations, Associations, Consultation: