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

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:

* Research Methods in Psychology

* Motivation

* Advanced Social Psychology

* Introduction to Research

* Self-regulation

 
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

Tyser, M. P., & McCrea, S. M. (2012). Behavioral consequences of counterfactual thinking: A self-evaluation model. In J. N. Franco & A. E. Svensgarad (Ed.). Handbook on Psychology of Motivation: New Research. Hauppuage, NY: Nova Science.

Gollwitzer, P. M., Wieber, F., Myers, A. L., & McCrea, S. M. (2010). How to maximize implementation intention effects? 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 (pp. 137-161). New York: Oxford Press.

McCrea, S. M., Myers, A. L., & Hirt, E. R. (2009). Self-handicapping as an anticipatory self-protection strategy. In E. P. Lamont (Ed.). Social Psychology: New Research. (pp. 31-53). Hauppuage, NY: Nova Science.

Journal Articles

Tyser, M. P., McCrea, S. M., & Knuepfer, K. (2012). Pursuing perfection or pursuing protection? Self-evaluation concerns and the motivational consequences of counterfactual thinking. European Journal of Social Psychology, 42, 372-382. [preprint pdf]

McCrea, S. M., & Flamm, A. (2012). Dysfunctional anticipatory thoughts and the self-handicapping strategy. European Journal of Social Psychology, 42, 72-81. [preprint pdf]

McCrea, S. M., Wieber, F., & Myers, A. L. (2012). Construal level mind-sets moderate self- and social stereotyping, Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 102, 51-68. [preprint pdf]

Nunez, N., McCrea, S. M., & Culhane, S. E. (2011). Jury decision making research: Are Researchers Focusing on the Mouse and Not the Elephant in the Room? Behavioral Sciences and Law, 29, 439-451. [preprint pdf]

McCrea, S. M., & Hirt, E. R. (2011). Limitations on the substitutability of self-protective processes: Self-handicapping is not reduced by related-domain self-affirmations. Social Psychology, 42, 9-18. [preprint pdf]

Hirt, E. R., & McCrea, S. M. (2009). Man smart, woman smarter?: Getting to the root of gender differences in self-handicapping. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 3, 260-274. Published Version

McCrea, S. M., & Hirt, E. R. (2009). Match madness: Probability matching in predictions of the NCAA basketball tournament. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39, 2809-2839. [preprint pdf]

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. [preprint pdf]

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

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. [Read more]

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. [preprint pdf]

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. [preprint pdf]

Recent Presentations

Tyser, M. P., & McCrea, S. M. (May 2012). Self-handicapping and self-regulation: Effects of depletion and awareness. Presented at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, Illinois.

McCrea, S. M. (Apr 2012). Don't look back: Motivational costs of "if only..." thinking? Invited talk at Colorado State University, Ft. Collins, Colorado.

Freng, S., McCrea, S. M., & Wieber, F. (Jan 2012). Stereotyping primes abstract representation and global processing style. Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, California.

McCrea, S. M., & Tyser, M. P. (Jan 2012). It's in the way that you use it: Counterfactual thinking promotes both task engagement and disengagement. Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, California.

Jaconis, M., Hartung, C. M., & McCrea, S. M. (Nov 2011). Relations among ADHD, sex, and self-handicapping. Presented at the Association for Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies Conference, Toronto, Canada.

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)

Research Lab:

Motivation and Cognition Lab