Who We Are
Principal Investigator | Lab Director
Assistant Professor of Psychology (Experimental)
Oklahoma State University
Ph.D., Social Psychology (Arizona State University)
M.Sc., Cognitive & Evolutionary Anthropology (University of Oxford)
M.L.A., focus in biological bases of behavior (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, behavioral ecology, evolutionary biology and anthropology, as well as animal behavior to investigate how people use cues to strategically navigate their social worlds and meet their social goals. Her work primarily focuses on (a) female sociality and (b) the use of interdisciplinary theoretical frameworks to challenge our understanding of 'classic' topics in social psychology (e.g., stereotyping and prejudice).
Much of her work on sociality (e.g., friendship, aggression) is driven by thinking first about women's sociality. Historically, social science research often assumed men's cognition and behavior to be the default. Thinking systematically about women and some of the sex-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
jaimie.krems@okstate.edu
@JaimieKrems
Graduate Student | Lab Manager
Devanshi Patel
Graduate Student (Clinical)
Incoming Lab Coordinator
Devanshi is a fifth-year graduate student in the Clinical program conducting research on social perceptions of parenting and stigma toward parents with Dr. Krems. 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, M.S.
Graduate Student (Experimental)
Outgoing Lab Coordinator
Laureon is a third-year graduate student working with Dr. Krems, Dr. Byrd-Craven, and Dr. Sznycer. 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.
laureon.merrie@okstate.edu
Graduate Student
Tori Short
Graduate Student (Experimental)
Tori is a second-year graduate student working with Dr. Byrd-Craven and Dr. Krems. Her research utilizes approaches from developmental, evolutionary, and social psychology to examine the biological processes and behavioral strategies of female competition, health maintenance, and mate preferences. 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 values across men and women.
tori.short@okstate.edu
Graduate Student
Nina Rodriguez, M.S.
Graduate Student (Experimental)
Nina is a first-year graduate student in the Experimental Psychology PhD program at Oklahoma State University. She received her MA at California State University Fullerton where she conducted research on personality and status motivation from an adaptationist perspective. Current research interests range from female competition and sociality, status acquisition, personality variation, and the influence of emotion and motivation on behavior.
@rodriguezNina_
Graduate Student
Krystal Duarte
Graduate Student (Experimental)
Krystal is an incoming first-year graduate student at Oklahoma State University working with Dr. Byrd-Craven and Dr. Krems. She is a McNair scholar who previously worked on projects that investigated romantic infatuation and flirting behavior. Her interests are in women's status and female aggression from an evolutionary perspective.
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 experience 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 thesis, freshman research scholar work). RAs often present their work at national conferences and many go on to graduate school. Learn more here.
Collaborators
Meet some of the people our lab works with:
The Computational Mate Choice Lab at University of California, Santa Barbara
PI: Daniel Conroy-Beam
Stigma & Motivation Lab at The University of Toronto
PI: Rebecca Neel
The Psychology, Evolution, & Law Lab at Hamilton College
PI: Keelah E. G. Williams
Evolution and Social Cognition (ESC) Lab at The University of Colorado, Boulder
PI: Eric Pedersen
ThePolitics and Evolution Lab at Aarhus University
PI: Michael Bang Petersen
The Culture and Ecology Lab at Arizona State University
PI: Michael Varnum
The Brain and Behaviour Lab at McMaster University
PI: Tracy Vaillancourt
Evolutionary Social Cognition Lab at Arizona State University
PIs: Steven Neuberg, Douglas Kenrick, Vaughn Becker
Cooperation & Conflict Lab at Arizona State University
PI: Athena Aktipis
Social and Evolutionary Neuroscience Research Group at The University of Oxford
PI: Prof. Robin I. M. Dunbar
The General Experimental Laboratory at St. Mary's University
PI: Maryanne Fisher
