• PhD, University of California - Irvine

A unifying theme in my research is that of responding to adversity. Research in my Stress, Coping, and Prosocial Engagement (SCoPE Lab) investigates this theme in two ways: by investigating the processes by which people respond to the adversity of others, and by examining the resources through which people manage their own adversity. Our research on responses to the adversity of others, or prosocial engagement, focuses on the concepts of empathy and compassion, and seeks to provide detailed understandings of these phenomena, especially by understanding the ways in which acting empathically or with compassion involve navigating the tension between self- and other-focused goals. Our research on how people manage their own adversity, or research on stress and coping, has uncovered diverse phenomena that can serve as coping resources. However, much of our work focuses on the ways in which prosocial engagement itself can serve as a stress buffer, including by reducing self-focus and lessening the effects of stress on health outcomes.

• Lim, D., Poulin, M. J., Shaffer-Morrison, C. D., Ministero, L. M., & Silver, R. C. (in press). Investigating the role of adversity and benevolence beliefs in understanding prosocial outcomes. Journal of Personality.
  
• Poulin, M. J., Ministero, L. M., Gabriel, S., Morrison, C. D., & Naidu, E. (2021). Minding your own business? Mindfulness decreases prosocial behavior for those with independent self-construals. Psychological Science, 32, 1699-1708.
• Lodi-Smith, J., Ponterio, E. J., Newton, N. J., Poulin, M. J., Baranski, E., & Whitbourne, S. K. (2021). The co-development of generativity and well-being into early late life. Psychology and Aging, 36, 299-308.
• Qu, H., Konrath, S., & Poulin, M. J. (2020). Which types of giving are associated with reduced mortality risk among older adults? Personality and Individual Differences, 154, 109668.
  
• DeLury, S. S., Buffone, A. E. K., Ministero, L. M., & Poulin, M. J. (2020). Compassion is partially selfless:  Public self-concept accessibility following compassion and threat. Self and Identity, 19, 181-200.
• Delury, S. S., & Poulin, M. J. (2018). Self-compassion and verbal performance: Evidence for threat-buffering and implicit self-related thoughts. Self and Identity, 17, 710-722.
• Poulin, M. J. (2018). Is all morality or just prosociality externalized? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 41, e110. [commentary]
• Mroz, E. L., Poulin, M. J., Grant, P. C., Depner, R. M., Breier, J., Byrwa, D. J., & Wright, S. T. (2018). Caregiver self-esteem as a predictor of patient relationship satisfaction: A longitudinal study. Journal of Palliative Medicine, 21, 376-379.
• Ministero, L. M., Poulin, M. J., Buffone, A. E. K., & DeLury, S. S. (2018). Empathic concern and the desire to help as separable components of compassionate responding. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44, 475-491.
• Monin, J. K., Poulin, M. J., Brown, S. L., & Langa, K. M. (2017). Spouses' daily feelings of appreciation and self-reported well-being. Health Psychology, 36, 1135-1139.
• Buffone, A. E. K., Poulin, M. J., DeLury, S. S., Ministero, L. M., & Morrison, C. D. (2017). Don't walk in her shoes! Different forms of perspective taking affect stress physiology. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 72, 161-168.
• Poulin, M. J., & Haase, C. M. (2015). Growing to trust: Evidence that trust increases and sustains well-being across the life span. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 6, 614-621.
• Buffone, A. E. K., & Poulin, M. J. (2014). Empathy, target distress, and neurohormone genes interact to predict aggression for others: Even without provocation. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 40, 1406-1422.
• Poulin, M. J. (2014). Volunteering predicts health among those who value others: Two national studies. Health Psychology, 33, 120-129.
• Poulin, M. J., Brown, S. L., Dillard, A., & Smith, D. M. (2013). Stress does not predict increased mortality among those who give to others. American Journal of Public Health, 103, 1649-1655.