Christine Harris, Ph.D
Professor
UCSD
Department of Psychology, 0109
University of California, San Diego
9500 Gilman Drive
La Jolla, CA 92093-0109
Phone: (858) 822-4507
Lab: (858) 822-1929
Fax: (858) 534-7190
charris@ucsd.edu

Curriculum Vitae

Research Interests

Human emotion, with a focus on social emotions in interpersonal contexts (jealousy, envy, embarrassment, shame and humor) and on the complex relationship between emotion and cognitive processes.

Academic Employment

7/11 – present

Professor, Psychology Department, UCSD

7/05 – 07/11

Associate Professor, Psychology Department, UCSD

7/03 – 6/05

Assistant Professor, Psychology Department, UCSD

5/99 – 6/03

Assistant Research Scientist, Center for Brain and Cognition, UCSD

Summer 1999

Instructor for Psychology of Emotion, Psychology Department, UCSD

9/98 – 5/99

Postdoctoral Researcher, Center for Human Information Processing, UCSD

6/89 - 9/92

Project Manager for three research projects: Grammatical Abilities in Alzheimer’s Disease, Behavioral Neurology Databank, and Crosslinguistic Studies of Aphasia, Center for Research in Language, UCSD

3/88 - 6/89

Case Manager for neuropsychology project, Language Research Center, Children’s Hospital, San Diego

Education

Ph.D.

University of California, San Diego

June 1998

M.A.

University of California, San Diego

Psychology, March 1995

B.A.

University of California, San Diego

Graduated Cum Laude, December 1987

 

Editorial Positions

  • Emotion Review, Editor in Chief (2013 – present)
  • Emotion Researcher, Editor (2008 – present): Official Newsletter for the International Society for Research on Emotion
  • Cognition and Emotion, Associate Editor (2006 - 2008 )

 

Awards and Research Funding

  • National Institute of Mental Health R01: "Jealousy: Emotional Reactions and Gender Differences." Principal Investigator: C. Harris. Total funding: $288,226. Support period: 6/00 – 6/05.
  • National Science Foundation: “Jealousy.” Principal Investigator: C. Harris. Total funding: $45,550. Support period: 8/00 – 8/03.
  • National Institute of Mental Health R01 "Perceptual & Cognitive Components of Attention" Co-Principal Investigator: Total funding: $475,000. Support period: 4/02 – 3/06.
  • UCSD Academic Senate Grant, Components of Smiling in Real-World Situations: Microanalysis with Wireless Videography: $5,063. Support period: 5/01 – 5/02.
  • Research Assistantship, NIMH Research Grant, 1998
  • Research Award from Psychology Dept., UCSD, April 1998
  • Research Award from Psychology Dept., UCSD, March 1997
  • Society of National Association Publications EXCEL gold award for feature article, The Evolution of Jealousy, for American Scientist, June 2005.

 

Invited Talks

  • Harris, C. R. (2011, Nov.) Embarrassment, Shame, and Guilt in Medical Contexts. University of Southern California, Social Psychology Area
  • Harris, C. R. (2010, Aug.) Embarrassment and Shame: Effects on Health Care Seeking. American Psychological Society, San Diego, CA.
  • Harris, C. R. (2009, Nov.) Embarrassment and Shame: Effects on Health Care Seeking. San Diego State University, Social Psychology Area Colloquium.
  • Harris, C.R. & Pashler, H.E. (2009, April) University of California, Riverside, Quantitative Area Talk.
  • Harris, C. R. (2007, June) “Embarrassment: Causes and Consequences”. University of California, San Diego, Social Science Policy Luncheon Talk.
  • Harris, C. R. (2005, April) Univeristy of Southern California, Social Psychology Area Talk.
  • Harris, C. R. (2004, May) "Jealousy: The Darker Side of Love". Invited talk at the 16th Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Society, Chicago, IL.
  • Harris, C. R. (2004, April) University of California - Los Angeles, Center for Behavior, Evolution, and Culture.
  • Harris, C. R. (2003, Sept.) San Diego State University, Social Psychology Area Talk.
  • Harris, C. R. (2003, March) University of California – San Diego, Psychology Department.
  • Harris, C. R. (2003, Feb.) University of Virginia, Psychology Department.
  • Harris, C. R. (2003, Jan.) Yale University, Psychology Department.
  • Harris, C. R. (2002, Nov.) University of California - San Diego, Anthropology Department.
  • Harris, C. R. (2002, Jan.) University of Colorado at Boulder, Psychology Department.
  • Harris, C. R. (2001, Jan.) Harvard University, Psychology Department.

 

Conference Presentations

  • Harris, C. R. (2012, Jan.) Menstrual Cycle and Preferences for Facial Masculinity: A Closer Look. Presented at the 13th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. San Diego, CA.
  • Harris, C. R. (2011, July) Effects of Social Emotions (Embarrassment, Shame & Guilt) in Health-care Choices. Presented at the 16th Conference of the International Society for Research on Emotion, Kyoto, Japan.
  • Milam, P., Darby, R.S., Larsen, B., Nelkin, D., Harris, C., & Christenfeld, N. (2011, July). Forgiveness, Letting Go, & Excusing. Poster presented at the International Meeting for Society of Psychology and Philosophy, Montreal, Canada.
  • Alvarado, N., Jester, R.B., Harris, C.R., & Whitaker, J.F. (May, 2010). Cultural Influences on the Pain Underestimation Bias. Presented at the 22nd Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Society, Boston, MA.
  • Essayli, J.H, Darby, R.S., & Harris, C.R. (2010, Jan.). Infidelity, Confessions, and Relationship Dissolution. Presented at the 11th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Las Vegas, NV.
  • Darby, R.S., Larsen, B., Christenfeld, N., & Harris, C.R. (2010, Jan.). Forgiveness in Real-Time: Cognitive and Cardiovascular Reactions to Offense. Presented at the 11th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Las Vegas, NV.
  • Coffaro, F. & Harris, C.R. (2009, Feb.). The Effects of Embarrassment on Risk Perception and Risk Taking. Presented at the 10th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Tampa, FL.
  • Darby, R.S., Parris, J. L., & Harris, C.R. (2009, Feb.). Time heals all wounds, or does it? Attachment style and recovery from jealous experiences. Presented at the 10th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Tampa, FL.
  • Alvarado, N., Jester, R. B. & Harris, C. R. (2008, July). Cultural Differences in Facial Expressions of Pain in a Cold Pressor Task. Presented at the 12th European Conference on Facial Expression, Geneva, Switzerland.
  • Fernandez de Ortega, H., Harris, C. R., Reidl, L., & Saldana, R. G. (2008, July). The Role of Embarrassment in Seeking Medical Help. Presented at the XXIX International Conference of Psychology, Berlin, Germany.
  • Alvarado, N., Jester, R. B., Harris, C. R. & Whitaker, J.F. (2008, May). Cultural Differences in the Expression of Pain. Presented at the 20th Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Society, Chicago, IL.
  • Burd, M. & Harris, C.R. (2008, Feb.). Ambiguity Means Never Having to Say You're Sorry. Presented at the 9th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Albuquerque, NM.
  • Coffaro, F. & Harris, C.R. (2008, Feb.). The Effects of Social Responsibility on Screening Intentions for Embarrassing and Non-Embarrassing Medical Exams. Presented at the 9th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Albuquerque, NM.
  • Darby, R. & Harris, C.R. (2008, Feb.). Embarrassment's effect on facial processing. Presented at the 9th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Albuquerque, NM.
  • Harmon-Jones, E., Peterson, C.K., & Harris, C.R. J (2008, Feb.). Jealousy: Novel Methods and Neural Correlates. Presented at the 9th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Albuquerque, NM.
  • Coffaro, F. & Harris, C.R. (2007, Jan.) The Effects of Embarrassment on Cervical Cancer Screening Intentions. Presented at the 8th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Memphis, TN.
  • Parris, J. L., Harris, C.R. & Heyman, G. (2007, Jan.) Who’s there? Impression Formation in Computer Mediated Interactions. Presented at the 8th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Memphis, TN.
  • Liersch, M. J., & Harris C. R. (2006, Nov.) When are gains and losses accessible? The impact of affect and experienced gains and losses on framing effects. Presented at the annual meeting of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making, Houston, TX.
  • Wyman, A. E., Consedine, N. S., Krivoshekova, Y. S., & Harris, C. R. (2006, Nov.). Better dead than red? A preliminary description of differences in medical embarrassment and medical avoidance in two age groups. Presented at the 59th Annual Meeting of the American Gerontological Society, Dallas, TX.
  • Liersch, M. J., & Harris C. R. (2006, June). Reducing framing effects via real-world decision factors. Workshop on the Application of Conversational Pragmatics to Understanding Reasoning and Decision Making, Toulouse, France.
  • Liersch, M. J., & Harris C. R. (2006, June). Examining risky choice framing effects given experienced gains and losses. Behavioral Decision Research in Management Conference, Santa Monica, CA.
  • Harris, C. R. & Jenkins, M. (2006, Jan.) “Why Do Men Take More Risks than Women?” Presented at the 7th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Palm Springs, CA.
  • Harris, C. R. (2005, Nov.) “Gender Differences in Risk Taking”. Presented at the Annual Meeting of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making, Toronto, ON.
  • Harris, C.R. (2005, May) "Shame and Its Medical Consequences: Neglected but Important". Presented at the 17th Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Society, Los Angeles, CA.
  • Alvarado, N. & Harris, C.R. (2005, May) "Facial Expressions and Repressive-Defensive Coping Style". Presented at the 17th Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Society, Los Angeles, CA.
  • Harris, C.R. (2005, Jan.) "Shame and Its Consequences in Physician-Patient Interactions". Presented at the 6th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, LA.
  • Harris, C.R. (2004, July) "Embarrassment and Failure to Seek Medical Care". Presented at the 13th Conference of the International Society for Research on Emotion, New York, NY.
  • Harris, C.R. (2003, Feb.) "Is Male Jealousy a Stronger Motive for Murder than Female Jealousy?". Presented at the 4th Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Los Angeles, CA.
  • Harris, C.R., & Pashler, H.E. (2002, July) Is Emotional Enhancement of Memory Mediated by Rehearsal?. Presented at the 12th Conference of the International Society for Research on Emotion.
  • Harris, C. R. (2001, June) “Jealousy over Infidelity: Where is the Gender Difference?”. Presented at the 13th Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Society, Toronto, Canada.
  • Harris, C. R., & Alvarado, N. (2001, June) “Socrates was Right: Tickle Evokes Pain and Pleasure”.Presented at the 13th Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Society, Toronto, Canada.
  • Pashler, H. & Harris, C. R., (2001, June) “Abrupt Visual Changes and the Default Set for Visual Attention”. Presented at the 13th Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Society, Toronto, Canada.
  • Pashler, H. & Harris, C. R., (2000, November) "Orienting to onsets: set-dependent but favored by default”. Presented at the 41st Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, New Orleans, LA.
  • Pashler, H. & Harris, C. R., (1999, November) "High-Priority" stimuli and visual attention. Presented at the 40th Annual Meeting of the Psychonomic Society, Los Angeles, CA.
  • Harris, C. R., & Christenfeld, N. (1996, July) “Machines can tickle, too: The irrelevance of the social context.” Presented at the 8th Annual Meeting of the American Psychological Society, San Francisco, CA.

 

Articles Published or in Press

  • Harris, C.R., & Henniger, N.E. (2013). Envy, politics, and age. Journal of Frontiers in Psychology, 4, doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2013.00067.
  • Memory & cognition, 41, 481-489.
  • Pashler, H., Rohrer, D. & Harris, C. (2013). Can the goal of honesty be primed? Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 49, 959-964.
  • Harris, C.R. (2012). Shifts in masculinity preferences across the menstrual cycle: Still not there. Sex Roles, 1-9.
  • Harris, C.R. (2012). Tickling. In Ramachandran,V. (Ed.), Encyclopedia of Human Behavior, 2nd Edition (pp. 611-615).Oxford, UK: Elsevier.
  • Harris, C.R. (2012). Feelings of Dread and Intertemporal Choice. Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, 25, 13-28.
  • Larsen, B. A., Darby, R. S., Harris, C. R., Nelkin, D. K., Milam, P. E., & Christenfeld, N. J. (2012). The immediate and delayed cardiovascular benefits of forgiving. Psychosomatic Medicine, 74, 745-750.
  • Pashler, H. & Harris, C. (2012). Is the replicability crisis overblown? Three arguments examined. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 7, 531-536.
  • Pashler, H., Coburn, N., and Harris, C. (2012). Priming of social distance? Failure to replicate effects on social and food judgements. PloS ONE, 7(8):, e42510
  • Darby, R.S. & Harris, C.R. (2012). A Biosocial Perspective on Embarrassment. In Crozier, W.R., & de Jong, P.J. The Psychological Significance of the Blush (pp. 124-146). Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press
  • Harris, C. R. (2011). Menstrual Cycle and Facial Preferences Reconsidered. Sex Roles: A Journal of Research, 64, 669–681. DOI 10.1007/s11199-010-9772.
  • Darby, R.S. & Harris, C.R. (2010). Embarrassment’s Effect on Facial Processing. Cognition & Emotion, 24, 1250-1258.
  • Harris C.R. & Darby, R.S. (2010). Jealousy in Adulthood. In S.Hart & M. Legerstee (Eds.) Handbook of jealousy: Theory, research, and multidisciplinary approaches. (pp. 547-571). Wiley-Blackwell.
  • Harris C.R. & Darby, R.S. (2009). Shame in Physician-Patient Interactions: Patient Perspectives. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 31, 325 - 334.
  • Darby, R.S. & Harris, C.R. (2009). Embarrassment's Effect on Facial Processing. Cognition & Emotion., 24, 1250-1258.
  • Harmon-Jones, E., Peterson, C. K., & Harris, C. R. (2009). Jealousy: Novel methods and neural correlatesEmotion., 9, 113-117.
  • Harris, C.R. (2009). Jealousy. In Reis, H.T. & Sprecher, S. (Eds.). Encyclopedia of Human Relationships.(937-941). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
  • Vul, E., Harris C.R., Winkielman, P., & Pashler, H. (2009). Reply to comments on “Puzzlingly high correlations in fMRI studies of emotion, personality, and social cognition”. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 4, 320-324.
  • Vul, E., Harris C.R., Winkielman, P., & Pashler, H. (2009). Puzzlingly high correlations in fMRI studies of emotion, personality, and social cognition. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 4, 274-290.
  • Harris, C.R. & Salovey, P. (2008). Reflections on Envy. In Smith, R.H. (Ed.). Envy: Theory and Research(pp. 335-356). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
  • Pashler, H.E., Harris, C.R. & K. H. Nuechterlein. (2008). Does the central bottleneck encompass voluntary selection of hedonically-based choices? Experimental Psychology, 55, 313-321.
  • Consedine, N.S., Krivoshekova, Y.S., & Harris C.R. (2007). Bodily embarrassment and judgment concern as separable factors in the measurement of medical embarrassment: Psychometric development and links to treatment-seeking outcomes. British Journal of Health Psychology, 12, 439-462.
  • Harris, C.R. (2007). Jealousy. In R. Baumeister and K. Vohs (Eds.)Encyclopedia of Social Psychology, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage
  • Harris, C. R. (2006). Embarrassment: A Form of Social Pain. American Scientist, 94, 524-533.
  • Harris, C. R., Jenkins, M., & Glaser, D. (2006). Gender Differences in Risk Assessment: Why do Women Take Fewer Risks than Men? Judgment and Decision Making, 1, 48-63
  • Harris, C. R. & Pashler, H.E. (2005). Enhanced Memory for Emotionally Charged Pictures Without Selective Rumination. Emotion, 5, 191-199.
  • Harris, C. R. & Alvarado, N. (2005). Facial Expressions, Smile Types, and Self-report during Humor, Tickle, and Pain. Cognition and Emotion, 19, 655-699.
  • Harris, C. R. (2005). Male and Female Jealousy, Still more Similar than Different: Reply to Sagarin.Personality and Social Psychology Review, 9, 76-86.
  • Harris, C. R., Pashler, H.E. & Coburn, N. (2004). Moray Revisited: High-Priority Affective Stimuli and Visual Search, The Quarterly Journal of Experimental Psychology, 57, 1-31.
  • Harris, C. R., & Pashler, H.E. (2004). Attention and the Processing of Emotional Words and Names: Not so Special After All. Psychological Science, 15, 171-178.
  • Harris, C. R. (2004). The Evolution of Jealousy. American Scientist, 92, 62-71.
  • Harris, C. R. (2003). A Review of Sex Differences in Sexual Jealousy, including Self-report Data, Psychophysiological Responses, Interpersonal Violence, and Morbid Jealousy. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 7, 102-128.
  • Harris, C. R. (2003). Jealousy in Men and Women: Two Green-eyed Monsters or One? Emotion Researcher, 17, 7-8.
  • Harris, C. R. (2003). Factors Associated with Jealousy Over Real and Imagined Infidelity: An Examination of the Social-Cognitive and Evolutionary Psychology Perspectives. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 27, 319-329.
  • Pashler, H. E., Mozer, M., & Harris, C.R. (2002). Mating Strategies in a Simulated Darwinian Microworld: Simulating the Consequences of Female Reproductive Refractoriness. Adaptive Behavior, 9, 5-15.
  • Harris, C. R. (2002). Sexual and Romantic Jealousy in Heterosexual and Homosexual Adults. Psychological Science, 13, 7-12.
  • Harris, C.R. & Alvarado, N. (2002). Pain Facial Expression: Individual Variability Undermines the Specific Adaptationist Account. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 25, 461.
  • Harris, C. R. (2001). Cardiovascular Responses of Embarrassment and Effects of Emotional Suppression in a Social Setting, Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 81, 886-897.
  • Pashler, H. E. & Harris, C.R. (2001). Spontaneous Allocation of Visual Attention: Dominate Role of Uniqueness.Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 8, 747-752.
  • Harris, C. R. (2000). Psychophysiological Responses to Imagined Infidelity: The Specific Innate Modular View of Jealousy Reconsidered. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 78, 1082-1091.
  • Harris, C. R. & Christenfeld, N. (1999). Can a Machine Tickle? Psychonomic Bulletin & Review, 6, 504-510.
  • Harris, C. R. (1999). The Mystery of Ticklish Laughter. American Scientist, 87, 344-351.
  • Harris, C. R. & Christenfeld, N. (1997). Humour, Tickle, and the Darwin-Hecker Hypothesis. Cognition & Emotion, 11, 103-110.
  • Harris, C. R. & Christenfeld, N. (1996). Jealousy and Rational Responses to Infidelity across Gender and Culture. Psychological Science, 7, 378-379.
  • Harris, C. R. & Christenfeld, N. (1996). Gender, Jealousy, and Reason. Psychological Science, 7, 364-366.
    Also reprinted in Michele Acker (Ed.), Perspectives: Social Psychology. CourseWise Publishing (1998).
  • Bates, E., Harris, C., Marchman, V., & Wulfeck, B. (1995). Production of Complex Syntax in Normal Ageing and Alzheimer's Disease. Language & Cognitive Processes, 10, 487-539.
  • Harris, C. R. & Pashler, H. E. (1995). Evolution and Human Emotions.Psychological Inquiry, 6, 44-46.

 

Ad Hoc Reviewer for Journals

American Psychological Association (book manuscript review)
American Journal of Primatology
British Journal of Psychology
British Journal of Social Psychology
Cognition and Emotion
Emotion
Evolution and Human Behavior
Evolutionary Psychology
Humor: International Journal of Humor Research
Journal of Experimental Social Psychology
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
Journal of Personality
Journal of Social and Personal Relationships
Judgment and Decision Making
Memory & Cognition
Oxford University Press (Reviewer for Book Proposal) Psychonomic Bulletin & Review
Psychological Science
Personal Relationships: Journal of the International Association for Relationship Research
Personality and Individual Differences
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin
Personality and Social Psychology Review
Perceptual and Motor Skills
Polish Psychological Bulletin
Psychological Bulletin & Review
Psychology and Aging
Sex Roles
Social Behavior and Personality: an international journal
Western Journal of Communication

 

Memberships

American Psychological Society
International Association for Relationship Research
International Society for Research on Emotion (by election)
Society of Experimental Social Psychology (by election)
Society for Judgment and Decision Making
Society for Personality and Social Psychology

 

Service on University Department Committees

Affiliated Faculty Member for the Critical Gender Studies Program
Graduate Student Psychology Colloquium Representative 1993/4 (peer elected)
Psychology Department Graduate Student Representative 1994/5 (peer elected)

 

A Sample of Popular Press Coverage of Research

Embarrassment:
The New Scientist, Vol. 192, Issues 2583-2584, December 2006-30 p. 7
Clinician's Research Digest (Vol. 20/4, April 2002).

Jealousy and Infidelity:
Reuter’s Health eLine, February 26, 2002
New York Times, October 8, 2002
Washington Post, December 1, 1996, p. C05.
Newsweek, Special Edition, December 1996, p. 56-59.

Tickle and Laughter:
Scientific American Frontiers, January 30, 2001
Trends in Cognitive Sciences, March 2000, Vol. 4, p. 78.
Washington Post, November 10, 1999, p. C05.
New York Times Science Section, June 3, 1997, p. H2.
CNN Science News, April 26, 1997.
New Scientist, March 1, 1997, p. 16.
Journal of N.I.H. Research, April, 1997, Vol. 9 No. 4, p. 34-35.
International Herald Tribune, June 5, 1997, p. 11.
Discover Magazine, September 1997, pp. 32-38.
World Service BBC Radio, August 20, 1997.