Richard Slatcher
- Media Contact
- SPN Mentor
Richard B. Slatcher is the Gail M. Williamson Distinguished Professor in the Behavior and Brain Sciences area of the Department of Psychology at the University of Georgia. He received his bachelor's degree from the University of Richmond and his Ph.D. in Social and Personality Psychology from the University of Texas at Austin. After graduating from UT, he completed a two-year NIMH post-doctoral fellowship in health psychology at UCLA. Prior to coming to UGA, he was a Professor of Social Psychology at Wayne State University.
Understanding the effects of peoples' close relationships on their health and well-being from a social psychological perspective is the central focus of Slatcher's research and teaching. His research has two main facets: basic research on close relationship processes—particularly intimacy processes—and investigations of the links among close relationships, biological processes and physical health. His work has been supported by more than $10 million in federal and foundation grant support and he has published over 70 articles and book chapters.
Slatcher is the recipient of the Caryl Rusbult Close Relationships Early Career Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP) and the award for Outstanding Contributions to Health Psychology by an Early Career Professional from the Society for Health Psychology (APA Division 38).
Primary Interests:
- Close Relationships
- Communication, Language
- Emotion, Mood, Affect
- Health Psychology
- Interpersonal Processes
- Personality, Individual Differences
- Research Methods, Assessment
Research Group or Laboratory:
Note from the Network: The holder of this profile has certified having all necessary rights, licenses, and authorization to post the files listed below. Visitors are welcome to copy or use any files for noncommercial or journalistic purposes provided they credit the profile holder and cite this page as the source.
Video Gallery
Relationship Rollercoaster in the Pandemic
How Close Relationships Keep Us Healthy and Happy
Journal Articles:
- Robles, T. R., Slatcher, R. B., Trombello, J. M., & McGinn, M. M. (2014). Marital quality and health: A meta-analytic review. Psychological Bulletin,140, 140-187.
- Imami, L., Stanton, S. C. E., Zilioli, S., Tobin, E. T., Farrell, A. K., Luca, F., & Slatcher, R. B. (2019). Self-disclosure and perceived responsiveness among youth with asthma: Links to affect and anti-inflammatory gene expression. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 45, 1155–1169.
- Ireland, M. E., Slatcher, R. B., Eastwick, P. W., Scissors, L. E., Finkel, E. J., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2011). Language style matching predicts relationship initiation and stability. Psychological Science, 22, 39-44.
- Mehl, M. R., Vazire, S., Ramírez-Esparza, N., Slatcher, R. B., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2007). Are women really more talkative than men? Science, 317, 82.
- Sbarra, D. A., Briskin, J. L., & Slatcher, R. B. (2019). Smartphones and close relationships: The case for an evolutionary mismatch. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 14, 596–618.
- Slatcher, R. B. (2010). When Harry and Sally met Dick and Jane: Creating closeness between couples. Personal Relationships, 17, 279-297.
- Slatcher, R. B. (2010). Marital functioning and physical health: Implications for social and personality psychology. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 4, 455-469.
- Slatcher, R. B., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2006). How do I love thee? Let me count the words: The social effects of expressive writing. Psychological Science, 17, 660-664.
- Slatcher, R. B., & Selcuk, E. (2017). A social psychological perspective on the links between close relationships and health. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 26, 16-21. doi: 10.1177/0963721416667444
- Slatcher, R. B., & Vazire, S. (2009). Effects of global and contextualized personality on relationship satisfaction. Journal of Research in Personality, 43, 624-633.
- Slatcher, R. B., Mehta, P.H., & Josephs, R.H. (2011). Testosterone and self-reported dominance interact to influence human mating behavior. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 22, 39-44.
- Slatcher, R. B., Robles, T. R., Repetti, R. L., & Fellows, M. D. (2010). Momentary work worries, marital disclosure, and salivary cortisol among parents of young children. Psychosomatic Medicine, 72, 887-896.
- Slatcher, R. B., Selcuk, E., & Ong, A. D. (2015). Perceived partner responsiveness predicts diurnal cortisol profiles 10 years later. Psychological Science, 26, 972-982. DOI: 0.1177/0956797615572904
- Slatcher, R. B., Vazire, S., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2008). Am "I" more important than "we"? Couples' word use in instant messages. Personal Relationships, 15, 407-424.
- Slatcher, R.B., & Robles, T.F. (2012). Preschoolers’ everyday conflict at home and diurnal cortisol patterns. Health Psychology, 31, 834-838.
Courses Taught:
- Biobases of Health Psychology
- Close Relationships
- Health Psychology
- Introductory Psychology
Richard Slatcher
Department of Psychology
University of Georgia
Athens, Georgia 30601
United States of America