My name is Mary Medlin and I am an assistant professor at West Virginia Wesleyan College. I previously earned my Ph.D. at USM and worked with with Dr. Donald Sacco in the Evolutionary Social Psychology Laboratory. My primary research interests include the evolutionary basis of social perceptions, primarily as it relates to attitudes regarding perceived personality characteristics, socially acceptable behaviors (e.g., sexual assault), and scientific information dissemination. My research primarily considers how these attitudes and beliefs are shaped through personality and other socially relevant individual difference factors (e.g., political affiliation, social awareness). I have investigated these perceptions as they relate to social attitudes towards specific behaviors/ideology (e.g., rape myth acceptance, scientific attitudes, humor appreciation) and acceptability of personality characteristics (e.g., narcissism). Some of my ongoing investigations include:
Public perceptions of Scientific Information (e.g., acceptance/rejection of empirically supported facts)
Social attitudes towards Rape Myths (e.g., endorsement of common rape myths; "she was dresses provocatively, so she was asking for it", etc.)