Krisanne Bursik, Ph.D.

Professor and Chair of Psychology
B.A., Villanova University (Psychology); M.A., Ph.D., Boston University (Psychology).

Specialty Areas

Personality and individual differences; adolescent and adult ego development; gender and women’s studies.

My research integrates several theoretical models and empirical domains from personality psychology, developmental psychology, and the field of gender studies. More specifically, I have been examining the relations among dispositional theories, developmental models of the ego, and theories of gender role development. Several recent studies have explored how individual differences in adolescent gender role development and ego development predict differences in the behavior, conscious attitudes, and unconscious processes of adolescents and young adults. Using the Loevinger’s model of ego development and Bem’s Gender Schema Theory, I have examined gender, gender role, and ego developmental differences in relationship satisfaction, divorce adjustment, identity development, and dream content.

Ongoing research explores additional behavioral, emotional, and cognitive correlates of these developmental lines. Recent co-authored presentations and publications with doctoral students extend these themes to related domains, including the prediction of adolescent academic achievement, sexual decision-making, the experience of guilt and shame, the capacity to envision therapeutic goals, the valuing of monogamy, and the development of young adult political ideologies. I am also currently working on several studies that examine methodological and psychometric properties of the Sentence Completion Test of ego development.

Selected Publications

Schmookler, T., & Bursik, K. (in press). The value of monogamy in emerging adulthood: A gendered perspective. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.

Bursik, K., & Stackert, R. (2006). Ego development and the therapeutic goal-setting capacities of mentally ill adults. American Journal of Psychotherapy.

Bursik, K., & Martin, T. A. (2006). Ego development and adolescent academic achievement. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 16, 1-18.

Benetti-McQuoid, J., & Bursik, K. (2005). Individual differences in experiences of and responses to guilt and shame: Examining the lenses of gender and gender role. Sex Roles, 53, 133-142.

Vareschi, C., & Bursik, K. (2005). Attachment style differences in the parental interactions and adaptation patterns of divorcing parents. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 42, 15-32.