The Social Neuroscience Lab at the University of Queensland was founded in 2007 by Dr. Eric Vanman. The lab uses multiple physiological measures in a variety of research paradigms.  Among the measures used recently include facial electromyography (EMG), heart rate, eye tracking, fMRI, salivary cortisol, and salivary testosterone.

2014-11-20 - fMRI scanner.jpg

Some Ongoing Research Projects Include

  • Facebook Use

  • Crying and Tears

  • The Perception of Emotion

  • Perceptions of Intergroup Trust

  • Self-Regulation and Restoration

  • Aging and Empathy

  • Music and Emotional Regulation

  • Social Robotics

  • Anonymous Behaviour on the Internet

  • Compassion

  • Role of Emotion in Victim Testimony

  • Political Differences and Empathy

Recent Publications (since 2020)

(bold indicates a current or past member of the lab)

  • Sharman, L. S., Dingle, G. A., Vingerhoets, A. J. J. M., & Vanman, E. J. (2020). Using crying to cope: Physiological responses to stress following tears of sadness. Emotion, 20(7), 1279-1291. http://dx.doi.org/10.1037/emo0000633

  • Larwood, J., Vanman, E. J., & Dingle, G. A. (2020). Negative valence specific deficits in judgements of musical affective quality in alexithymia. Cognition and Emotion. https://doi.org/10.1080/02699931.2019.1707514

  • McGovern, H. T., & Vanman, E. J. (2021). Pathogens and intergroup relations. How evolutionary approaches can inform social neuroscience. Evolutionary Psychological Science 7, 200–210. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-020-00269-3

  • Philipp, M. C., Bernstein, M., Vanman, E. J., & Johnston, L. (2021). Social exclusion enhances affiliative signaling, The Journal of Social Psychology, 161(4), 508-518. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2020.1854648

  • Gallois, C., Vanman, E. J., Kalokerinos, E. K., & Greenaway, K. H. (2021). Emotion and its management: The lens of language and social psychology. Journal of Language and Social Psychology, 40(1), 42-59. https://doi.org/10.1177/0261927X20966722

  • Vanman, E. J., Kappas, A., & Ito, T. A. (2021). Social neuroscience is more than the study of the human brain: The legacy of John Cacioppo. Social Neuroscience, 16, 1-5. https://doi.org/10.1080/17470919.2021.1879459

  • Grainger, S. A., Mead, J. K., Vanman, E. J., & Henry, J.D. (2021). The relationship between testosterone and social cognition in younger and older adults. Biological Psychology, 161. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.biopsycho.2021.108072

  • Zickfeld, J.H.,…Vanman, E.J… (2021). Tears evoke the intention to offer social support: A systematic investigation of the interpersonal effects of emotional crying across 41 countries. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 95. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jesp.2021.104137

  • Sung, B., Hartley, N., Vanman, E.J. & Hooshmand, R. (2021). Objective vs. subjective design newness. Asia Pacific Journal of Marketing and Logistics, https://doi.org/10.1108/APJML-12-2020-0897.

  • Grainger, S. A., Vanman, E. J., & Henry, J. D. (2022). Tears of sadness reduce others’ gazing towards the eyes. Emotion, 22(6), 1382-1386. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0000926

  • Nitschinsk, L., Tobin, S., Vanman, E. J. (2022). The disinhibiting effects of anonymity increase online trolling. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking. https://doi.org/10.1089/cyber.2022.0005

  • Nitschinsk, L., Tobin, S., Vanman, E. J. (2022). The dark triad and online self-presentation styles and beliefs. Personality and Individual Differences. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2022.111641.

  • Sung, B., Vanman, E. J., & Hartley, N. (2022). Revisiting (dis)fluency: Metacognitive difficulty as a novelty cue that evokes feeling-of-interest. Psychology and Marketing. https://doi.org/10.1002/mar.21664

  • Nitschke, F., McKimmie, B. M., & Vanman, E. J. (2022). The effect of heuristic cues on jurors’ systematic information processing in rape trials. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 46(4), 484-500. https://doi.org/10.1177/03616843221118018

  • Nitschke, F., McKimmie, B. M., & Vanman, E. J. (2023). The effect of trauma education judicial instructions on decisions about complainant credibility in rape trials. Psychology, Public Policy, and Law. 29(1), 69–92. https://doi.org/10.1037/law0000353

  • Gamble, R. S., Henry, J. D., & Vanman, E. J. (2023). Empathy moderates the relationship between cognitive load and prosocial behaviour. Scientific Reports, 13, 824. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-28098-x

  • McComb, C. A., Vanman, E. J., & Tobin, S. J. (2023). A meta-analysis of the effects of social media exposure to upward comparison targets on self-evaluations and emotions. Media Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/15213269.2023.2180647

  • Casey, J. P., Vanman, E. J., & Barlow, F. K. (2023). Empathic conservatives and moralizing liberals: Political intergroup empathy varies by political ideology and is explained by moral judgment. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672231198001

  • Nitschinsk, L., Tobin, S. J., & Vanman, E. J. (2023). A functionalist approach to online trolling. Frontiers in Psychology. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1211023

  • Nitschinsk, L., Tobin, S. J., Varley, D., & Vanman, E. J. (2023). Why do people sometimes wear an anonymous mask? Motivations for seeking anonymity online. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672231210

  • Gamble, R. S., Henry, J. D., Decety, J., & Vanman, E. J. (2024). The role of external factors in affect-sharing and their neural bases. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 105540.