Stephen Harkins
My research interests focus on group processes, the effects of evaluation on performance, attitudes, and attitude change.
I am currently testing a three-variable model that may serve as the basis for an integration of five different traditions in which it has been shown that the potential for evaluation affects task performance: social loafing, social facilitation, goal-setting, intrinsic motivation/creativity, and achievement-goal theory. Although these research traditions have proposed process models to account for the evaluation effects, the models do not agree on the mediating process(es), nor is there any compelling evidence favoring one account over the others. In a second line of work, I am attempting to identify the process(es) that produce the evaluation effects through a molecular analysis of specific tasks (e.g., Remote Associates Task) on which these effects have been shown.
Primary Interests:
- Attitudes and Beliefs
- Group Processes
- Interpersonal Processes
- Motivation, Goal Setting
Books:
Journal Articles:
- Harkins, S. (2006). Mere effort as the mediator of the evaluation-performance relationship. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 436-455.
- Harkins, S., White, P., & Utman, C. (2000). The role of internal and external sources of evaluation in motivating task performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 26, 100-117.
- Jamieson, J., & Harkins, S. (in press). The effect of stereotype threat on the solving of quantitative GRE problems: A mere effort interpretation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
- Jamieson, J., & Harkins, S. (2007). Mere effort and stereotype threat performance effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 93, 544-564.
- McFall, S., Jamieson, J., & Harkins, S. (2009). Testing the mere effort account of the evaluation-performance relationship. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 96, 135-154.
- Utman, C., & Harkins, S. (in press). The effect of increasing ego involvement on the potency of the potential for self-evaluation. Journal of Applied Social Psychology.
Other Publications:
- Harkins, S. (2001). Social influence effects on task performance: The ascendancy of social evaluation over self-evaluation. In J. Forgas and K. Williams (Eds.), Social influence: Direct and indirect processes. Philadelphia, PA: Psychology Press.
- Harkins, S. (2001). The role of task complexity and sources and criteria of evaluation in motivating task performance. In S. Harkins (Ed.), Multiple perspectives on the effects of evaluation on performance: Toward an integration. Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.
- Harkins, S. (2001). The three-variable model: From Occam's razor to the black box. In S. Harkins (Ed.), Multiple perspectives on the effects of evaluation on performance: Toward an integration. Norwell, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers. Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.
- Williams, K., Harkins, S., & Karau, S. (2003). Group performance. In M. Hogg and Cooper, J. (Eds.), Handbook of Social Psychology. United Kingdom: Sage.
Courses Taught:
- Social Psychology
- Social Psychology Laboratory
- Social Psychology Seminar
- Statistics
- Statistics in Psychological Research
Stephen Harkins
Department of Psychology
Northeastern University
Boston, Massachusetts 02115
United States of America
- Phone: (617) 373-3796
- Fax: (617) 373-8714