Psychology

Dr. Brent Mattingly
Dr. Brent Mattingly

Brent Mattingly

My research focuses on the intersection of romantic relationships and the self. Specifically, students in my lab study how various aspects of romantic relationships (such as formation, maintenance, and breakup) alter the ways in which individuals think about and understand themselves.

Brent A. Mattingly, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Ursinus College. He received his B.A. (2001) in Psychology from the University of Louisville, and his M.S. (2005) and Ph.D. (2008) in Experimental Social Psychology with a minor in Research Methodology from Saint Louis University. He joined the Ursinus College Psychology Department in 2013.

Dr. Mattingly’s research focuses on the intersection of romantic relationships and the self-concept. His work examines relationship-induced self-concept change (i.e., how relationships lead individuals to gain or lose various self-concept content) and how these forms of relational self-change are associated with various aspects of relationship functioning (e.g., relationship quality, maintenance behaviors, infidelity).

Department

Psychology

Degrees

  • B.A., University of Louisville, 2001
  • M.S., Saint Louis University, 2005
  • Ph.D., Saint Louis University, 2008

Teaching

Introductory Research Methods and Statistics

Social Psychology: Social Cognition and Influence

Social Psychology: Self and Interpersonal Relations

Advanced Research Methods in Social Psychology

Relationship Science

Common Intellectual Experience

Recent Work

Selected Publications

Mattingly, B. A., McIntyre, K. P., Knee, C. R., & Loving, T. J. (2019). Implicit theories of relationships and self-expansion: Implications for relationship functioning. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 36, 1579-1599.

Mattingly, B. A., McIntyre, K. P., & Selterman, D. (2018). Individual differences and romantic relationships: Bidirectional influences on self and relational processes. In V. Zeigler-Hill & T. Shackelford (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of personality and individual differences (Vol. 2, pp. 402-430). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.

McIntyre, K. P., Mattingly, B. A., & Lewandowski, G. W., Jr. (2017). Self-concept clarity and relationship functioning. In J. Lodi-Smith and K. DeMarree (Eds.), Self-concept clarity: Perspectives on assessment, research, and applications (pp. 107-124). New York, NY: Springer. 

McIntyre, K. P., Mattingly, B. A., & Lewandowski, G. W., Jr. (2015). When “we” changes “me”: The two-dimensional model of relational self-change and relationship outcomes. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 32, 857-878. 

Mattingly, B. A., & Lewandowski, G. W., Jr. (2014). Broadening horizons: Self-expansion in relational and non-relational contexts. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 8, 30-40. doi: 10.1111/spc3.12080 

Mattingly, B. A., Lewandowski, G. W., Jr., & McIntyre, K. P. (2014). “You make me a better/worse person”: A two-dimensional model of relationship self-change. Personal Relationships, 21, 176-190. doi: 10.1111/pere.12025