Who We Are
Principal Investigator | Lab Director
Assistant Professor of Psychology (Experimental)
Oklahoma State University
beginning Fall 2023:
Assistant Professor of Psychology
University of California, Los Angeles
Ph.D., Social Psychology (Arizona State University)
M.Sc., Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology (University of Oxford)
M.L.A. (University of Pennsylvania)
A.B., Classical & Near Eastern Archaeology (Bryn Mawr College)
Dr. Krems is a social psychologist with interdisciplinary training.
Her research draws on theoretical perspectives from social psychology, cognitive and evolutionary evolutionary anthropology, behavioral ecology, and animal behavior to investigate how people navigate their social worlds.
Much of her work--including that on friendship and stereotpying/prejudice--is driven by thinking first about women. Historically, social science research often assumed men's cognition and behavior to be the default. Thinking systematically about women and some of the sex/gender-typical challenges they have recurrently faced (e.g., pregnancy, aggressing while avoiding retaliation) generates novel research directions and facilitates the discovery of phenomena that are relevant across sex/gender (e.g., modes of friendship maintenance, competition).
CV
Google Scholar
@JaimieKrems
jaimie.krems@okstate.edu
Graduate Student
Devanshi Patel
Graduate Student (Clinical)
Devanshi is a doctoral candidate and graduate student in the Clinical program at Oklahoma State University. For the 2023-2024 year, she will be on internship.
Her research explores social perceptions of parenting and investigates stigma toward parents. Her thesis examines whether--and why--parents of children with "obesity" are stigmatized, and her future work will take intersectional approaches to understanding the role that body shape--along with target identity features (e.g., gender, race/ethnicity)--play in weight stigma.
depatel@okstate.edu
Graduate Student
Laureon A. Merrie
Graduate Student (Experimental)
Laureon is a fourth-year graduate student working with Dr. Krems, Dr. Byrd-Craven, and Dr. Sznycer at Oklahoma State University.
Her interests are in female sociality--particularly in pairing both feminist and evolutionary perspectives to explore overlooked aspects of women's behavior.
Given the importance of information (e.g., secrets, gossip) in female social relationships, Laureon's recent work has focused on understanding the rules governing when we share information, and how the sharing of privileged information is perceived.
CV
laureon.merrie@okstate.edu
Graduate Student | RA Lab Co-Coordinator
Tori Short
Graduate Student (Experimental)
Tori is a third-year graduate student working with Dr. Byrd-Craven and Dr. Krems at Oklahoma State University.
Her research utilizes approaches from developmental, evolutionary, and social psychology to examine the biological processes and behavioral strategies of female competition and health maintenance. Considering the growing focus on positive reframing and self-image within society, Tori’s most recent work focuses on exploring how self-esteem may differentially cue mate- and friendship-value.
CV
tori.short@okstate.edu
Graduate Student | OCEAN Lab Coordinator
Nina Rodriguez
Graduate Student (Experimental)
Nina is a second-year graduate student working with Dr. Krems, Dr. Szyncer, & Dr. Byrd-Craven at. Beginning Fall 2023, Nina will be a graduate student in the Department of Psychology at UCLA.
Nina received her MA at California State University-Fullerton, where she conducted research on personality and status motivation from an adaptationist perspective. Her research interests include female competition and sociality, status acquisition, personality variation, and the influence of emotion and motivation on behavior. Her current work explores how people--and particularly women--bargain for better treatment in their social relationships.
website
ninrodr@okstate.edu
Graduate Student | RA Lab Co-Coordinator
Krystal Duarte
Graduate Student (Experimental)
Krystal is a second-year graduate student and McNair scholar working with Dr. Byrd-Craven & Dr. Krems at Oklahoma State University.
Krystal is previously worked on projects investigating romantic infatuation and flirting behavior. Her interests involve understanding the challenges that women face in navigating sex/gender-typical aspects of competition and how women navigate these challenges.
website
krystal.duarte@okstate.edu
Graduate Student
Yunseo (Nike) Wee
Graduate Student (Experimental)
Yunseo is a first-year student working with Dr. Sznycer & Dr. Krems at Oklahoma State University.
She is interested in issues of (a) value (e.g., how do people come to value things and other people) and (b) social processes surrounding information (e.g., what cognitive architecture regulates how people share information).
yunsuh.wee@okstate.edu
The Krems Lab is one of several across Departments of Psychology and Integrative Biology, taking part in joint graduate lab meetings and furthering the OCEAN mission to: (1) conduct interdisciplinary research; (2) provide graduate students for careers as future faculty; (3) engage in educational outreach with the FOSSIL Conference + OCEAN Speaker Series
Undergraduate RA Team
The Krems Lab is lucky to have a vibrant, engaged group of RAs. We accept students on a term-by-term basis. No previous research is required--but curiosity is!
Dr. Krems and OCEAN graduate students provide a hands-on research and training that informs RAs about the background of the work being conducted, research methods and data analysis, and professional development (e.g., how to get into grad school).
Students can receive credit for hours in the lab, volunteer (typically after at least one term for credit), and complete independent research projects (e.g., honors theses, freshman research scholar work). RAs often present their work at national conferences and many go on to graduate school. Learn more here.
