Faculty Profile

Name:

Debra Schroeder Ph.D.



Title:

Assoc. Professor



Department:

Psychology



What is your field of expertise, and what makes you interested in this field?

My doctorate is in social psychology. Social psychology is the scientific study of how people think about, interact with, and relate to others. Topics include what errors we make in our social thinking, how we determine the causes of our own and others' behavior, whether attitudes predict behaviors or (and!) vice versa, how norms influence our behavior, whether obedience to authority really can influence us to perform awful acts, how groups impact performance and decisions, how social psychology can inform us about the causes and consequences of prejudice and discrimination, whether science can give us insight into fuzzy topics like love and altruism, and what predicts aggression.

I love this field because of its breadth of topics and its applicability. Findings in social psychology have been formally applied in the clinic, to conflict situations, in court, and to environmental sustainability. Personally, I believe that applying insights from social psychology can make one a kinder, gentler, and happier human being. For example, when people engage in bad behaviors, we tend to make internal attributions-they acted like that because they are bad, lazy, or stupid people. Social psychological findings highlight the importance of looking at the situation as a contributor to behavior, bad and good. With regard to happiness, social psychologists have found that many factors contribute, such as giving priority to friends and family; having meaningful work; engaging in absorbing leisurely activities; acting happy (often the mood will follow); having a religious faith; mastering time; reflecting on the positives in your life; and of course sleeping, exercising, and eating right. Add a dash of believing people view you very positively (and they probably do, just not as positively as you think) and you have a recipe for happiness.

Can you briefly introduce the academic program (or department) you are in to our prospective students?

I can talk about two academic programs in which I am heavily involved. I'm Associate Professor of Psychology, and I'm also the Director of the Honors Program. The Psychology/Sociology Department has as its mission to "advance the understanding of human behavior and the scientific method used to study it." Driving this mission is the belief that psychological methods and findings can produce research-based principles valuable for understanding behavior and thinking as well as solving individual and social problems. While St. Scholastica is a small college, we are fortunate to have a faculty that represents the major areas of psychology: developmental, biological, social, clinical, and counseling. We offer courses in these areas and more. Especially unique is our Directed Applied Project in Psychology, a field experience that involves students working at area agencies and applying what they have learned in the classroom. Too, students in our department meet often with their advisors, not only to schedule classes, but also to discuss professional goals and what is needed to achieve them. Finally, we offer numerous co-curricular activities through our student club.

The Honors Program is designed to enrich the learning experiences of high-achieving, motivated students. Students in the Honors Program replace half of their General Education classes with Honors classes. Honors classes are capped at 15 students; involve lively discussions about often-controversial topics; and draw from multiple disciplines. A community of peers and faculty similarly devoted to the love of learning is the final outcome.

What do you like best about St. Scholastica?

Hands down, it is the people I like best at St. Scholastica. Of course, I adore my students. I love watching them mature from first-year students to seniors as people and professionals. I often don't want to let them go, but there's no stopping them and that means I've done my job. I consider many of my colleagues to be among my dearest friends, best mentors, and most positive role models. One of them is even a family member! (Dr. Douglas Walton, Chair of Biology, is my husband.) Finally, while I very much respect my discipline, and believe it offers tools that can help you be who you want to be, it provides little guidance as to what that is. The Benedictines provide the values of community, hospitality, respect, stewardship, and love of learning as ones to strive for, and is a distinguishing characteristic of our institution.

What's your most interesting teaching or research experience at St. Scholastica?

My favorite research experience at St. Scholastica was facilitating a research group with students to study relationships between perfectionism and physical and mental health. It started out as a project with one student who wanted to get a Ph.D. in social psychology. I knew he was smart enough-I hate to admit it, but maybe even smarter than I am--but needed research experience. I did not really think I had the time to work on research with him given my job and family (two children, Anna and Thomas), but I felt obligated as this is my area of study. Once we got started, it was so rewarding to both of us that we kept going with it. Soon, other students heard about it and wanted to join and before I knew it, I had a group.

What's your advice for prospective students?

I will just assume you are going to come here and answer a different question. (Yes, I did dress up as Sarah Palin for Halloween.) Here's the question I will answer: What advice would I give you for college success? It's seems a lifetime ago, but I won the Lavine Teaching Award, and spent an agonizing three months preparing a speech to be delivered at the Opening Convocation the following year on advice for first-year students. At least four versions later (I will NEVER ask my husband for feedback on a speech again), I came up with the acronym SOAR: principles that will help you "soar" to success. S is for situations. Put yourself in situations that will encourage you to act as you want to act and stay away from those that might tempt you to behave in ways you won't be proud of (St. Scholastica is a good situation!). O is for optimism. Choose to look at the cup as half full rather than half empty. When you don't do well at something, take control and believe you can do better next time. A stands for academics. Experts estimate that earning an A requires at least two hours outside of class for every hour in class. R is for relationships. Stay connected with your family and friends, and make new friends by attending activities and joining clubs.