Research

Keywords: fundamental social motivations; status, hierarchy, and discrimination; pathogen avoidance; social identity; human behavioral ecology

You can view my CV here.

Publications

Choi, S., Merrell, W., Ackerman, J. (2023). Safety first, but for whom? Shifts in risk perception for self and others following COVID-19 vaccination. Social and Personality Psychological Compass.

Fessler, D.*, Merrell, W.*, Holbrook, C., Ackerman, J (2023). Beware the foe who feels no pain: Associations between relative formidability and pain sensitivity in three U.S. online studies. Evolution and Human Behavior. [open access] Pop press: [Michigan News] [Human Behavior and Evolution Society]

Ackerman, J., Merrell, W., & Williams, L. (In press). Consumer psychology. In D. Carlston, K. Johnson, & K. Hugenberg (Eds.), The Oxford Handbook of Social Cognition, 2nd New York: Oxford University Press.

Choi, S., Merrell, W., Ackerman, J. (2022). Keep Your Distance: Different Roles for Knowledge and Affect in Predicting Social Distancing Behavior. Journal of Health Psychology. [pdf] [media coverage]

Ackerman, J., Merrell, W., Choi, S. (2020). What people believe about detecting infectious disease using the senses. Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology. [pdf]

Submitted and in-prep manuscripts (drafts available upon request)

Merrell, W., Choi, S., Ackerman, J. (Revise and Resubmit). When and why people conceal infectious disease. Psychological Science.

Merrell, W., Vossoughi, N., Kteily, N., Ho, A. (Revise and Resubmit). Looking White but Feeling Asian: The Role of Physical Permeability and Perceived Discrimination in Multiracial-Monoracial Alliances. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.

Merrell, W., Ackerman, J. (Under Review). Conspicuous experiences as unique social signals of both status and warmth. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology.

Vossoughi, N., Merrell, W., Kteily, N., Ho, A. (Submitted for Publication). Incorporating egalitarian ideology in models of collective action.

* Represents joint first authorship