• PhD, Northwestern University

My primary area of interest is the social nature of the self. Within that broad area, my students and I have examined Social Surrogacy – the tendency for humans to form psychological relationships with non-human (on non-physically available) entities, the social functions of the self, the need to belong, and how our relationships shape our feelings about ourselves (and vice versa). We also study the psychological importance of spending time in large, anonymous crowds such as at concerts, sporting events, rallies, and religious gatherings. Much of our research is guided by the proposition that humans are a fundamentally social species and thus a great deal of human behavior can be best understood as being in service of connecting to others. Even when we think we are not being social (i.e. when we watch TV or surf the web) social motivations are behind our actions.

• Gabriel, S. & Schneider, V. (in press). A strong and sneaky motivation for broad social connection: Human belonging goes beyond dyadic bonds. Current Directions in Psychological Science.
• Naidu, E., Gabriel, S., Wildschut, T., & Sedikides, C. (2024). Reliving the good old days: Nostalgia increases psychological wellbeing through collective effervescence. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 15(1), 22-32.
• Brinkman, C., Gabriel, S., Kimelberg, S., Poulin, M. J., Valenti. J. & Hugenberg, K. (2023). the psychological determinants of classroom preferences: Implicit and explicit racial attitudes and racial composition of classrooms. Journal of Community & Applied Social Psychology, 33(4), 914-928.
• Leary, M. R. & Gabriel, S. (2022). The relentless pursuit of acceptance and belonging. Advances in Motivational Science.
• Naidu, E., Paravati, E., & Gabriel, S. (2022). Staying happy even when staying 6 feet apart: The relationship between extroversion and social adaptability. Personality and Individual Differences.
• Gabriel, S., & Paravati, E. (2021). If music be the food of love, play on: Four ways that music may lead to social connection. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 44.
• Paravati, E., Naidu, E., & Gabriel, S. (2021). From “love actually” to love, actually: The sociometer takes every kind of fuel. Self and Identity, 20, 6-24.
• Gabriel, S., Naidu, E., Paravati, E., Morrison, C. D., & Gainey, K. (2020). Creating the sacred from the profane: Collective effervescence and everyday activities. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 15(1), 129–154.
• Gabriel, S., Paravati, E., Green, M. C., & Flomsbee, J. (2018). From Apprentice to President: The role of parasocial connection in the election of Donald Trump. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 9(3), 299-307.
• Gabriel, S., Valenti, J., Naragon-Gainey, K., & Young, A. F. (2017) The psychological importance of going to concerts, churches, and football games: Development and validation of the Tendency for Effervescent Assembly Measure (TEAM). Psychological Assessment, 29(11), 1349 -1362.
• Buffone, A., Gabriel, S., & Poulin, M. (2016). There but for the grace of God: Counterfactuals influence religious belief and images of the divine. Social and Personality Psychological Science, 7, 256-263.
• Gabriel, S., Valenti, J., & Young, A. F. (2016). Watching, reading, and eating your way to belonging: Symbolic social relationships and the social self. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 53, 189-243.
• Gabriel, S., & Young, A. F. (2011). Becoming a vampire without being bitten: The narrative collective-assimilation hypothesis. Psychological Science, 22, 990-994.
• Gabriel, S., Kawakami, K., Bartak, C., Kang, S., & Mann, N. (2010). Negative self-synchronization: Will I change to be like you when it is bad for me? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98(6), 857-871.
• Derrick, J., Gabriel, S., & Hugenberg, K. (2009). Social surrogacy: How favored television programs provide the experience of belonging. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45(2), 352-362.