VCU Social Psychology Program

Robert (Rob) Goodman

I earned undergraduate degrees in Psychology and Religious Studies before completing my master's degree in Experimental Psychology at Cleveland State University. In 2009, I started VCU’s Social Psychology program.  A broad goal of my research is to better understand the interaction between mindfulness, the self, and emotion. I am interested in the ways mindfulness can enhance volitional regulation of self-reflexive thought and affect, and its tendency to relax personal identification with cognitive and affective states (decentering). I am also interested in the capacity of mindfulness to weaken self-biases and nourish a more empirical perspective of moment to moment experience. I would like to examine changes in the self (e.g., structure, stability, complexity, clarity) that stem from regular mindfulness practice. Lastly, I am interested in how mindfulness can be applied to promote psychological, social, and physical health.