Arthur Aron
Arthur Aron's research centers on the self-expansion model of motivation and cognition in personal relationships. This model posits that (a) people seek to increase their potential efficacy and (b) one way they seek to do so is through relationships in which they include others in the self (thus seeing themselves as possessing to some extent others' perspectives, identities, and resources). His major research programs focus on identifying interpersonal closeness as cognitive overlap between self and other and on how self-expansion motivations relate to and can be used to alleviate the typical decline in relationship satisfaction over time.
He is also actively involved in research applying the self-expansion model to intergroup relations and, in collaboration with Elaine Aron, to deepening understanding of Sensory Processing Sensitivity (a temperament trait with both advantages and disadvantages found in a large minority of the population). His diverse methods include representative surveys, lab studies, and brain imaging.
Primary Interests:
- Close Relationships
- Emotion, Mood, Affect
- Intergroup Relations
- Interpersonal Processes
- Motivation, Goal Setting
- Neuroscience, Psychophysiology
- Personality, Individual Differences
- Persuasion, Social Influence
- Prejudice and Stereotyping
- Research Methods, Assessment
- Self and Identity
- Social Cognition
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Video Gallery
The Science of Love
Select video to watch
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3:18 The Science of Love
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1:5 Five Tips for Lasting Love
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45:7 36 Questions That Lead to Love
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0:43 Elaine Aron's Breakthrough Discovery
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35:26 What Makes Love Last?
Books:
- Aron, A., & Aron, E. (1986). Love and the expansion of self: Understanding attraction and satisfaction. New York: Hemisphere.
- Aron, A., Coups, E., & Aron, E. N. (2019). Statistics for the behavioral and social sciences: A brief course (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice-Hall.
- Aron, A., Coups, E., & Aron, E. N. (2013). Statistics for psychology (6th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Pearson/Prentice-Hall.
- Mashek, D. J., & Aron, A. (Eds.). (2004). Handbook of closeness and intimacy. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.
Journal Articles:
- Acevedo, B.P., Aron A., Fisher, H. E, & Brown, L. (2012). Neural correlates of long-term intense romantic love. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 7, 145-159.
- Aron, A., Aron, E. N., & Allen, J. (1998). Motivations for unreciprocated love. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 24, 787-796.
- Aron, A., Aron, E. N., & Smollan, D. (1992). Inclusion of other in the Self Scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 596-612.
- Aron, A., Aron, E. N., Tudor, M., & Nelson, G. (1991). Close relationships as including other in the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 241-253.
- Aron, A., Aron, E. N., Tudor, M., & Nelson, G. (1991). Close relationships as including other in the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 60, 241-253.
- Aron, A., Fisher, H., Mashek, D., Strong, G., Li, H., & Brown, L. (2005). Reward, motivation and emotion systems associated with early-stage intense romantic love. Journal of Neurophysiology, 93, 327-337.
- Aron, A., Melinat, E., Aron, E. N., Vallone, R., & Bator, R. (1997).The experimental generation of interpersonal closeness: A procedure and some preliminary findings. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 23, 363-377.
- Aron, A., Norman, C. C., Aron, E. N., McKenna, C., & Heyman, R. (2000). Couples shared participation in novel and arousing activities and experienced relationship quality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 78, 273-283.
- Aron, A., Paris, M., & Aron, E. N. (1995). Falling in love: Prospective studies of self-concept change. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 1102-1112.
- Aron, E., Aron, A., & Davies, K. (2005). Adult shyness: The interaction of temperamental sensitivity and a negative childhood environment. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 181-197.
- Aron, E. N., & Aron, A. (1997). Sensory-processing sensitivity and its relation to introversion and emotionality. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 345-368.
- Aron, E.N., Aron, A., & Jagiellowicz, J. (2012). Sensory processing sensitivity: A review in the light of the evolution of biological responsivity, Personality and Social Psychology Review, 16, 262-282
- Davies, K., Tropp, L. R., Aron, A., Pettigrew, T. F., & Wright, S. C. (2011). Cross-group friendships and intergroup attitudes: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 15, 332-351.
- Fisher, H. E., Brown, L. L., Aron, A., Strong, G., & Mashek, D. (2010). Reward, addiction, and emotion regulation systems associated with rejection in love. Journal of Neurophysiology, 104, 51-60.
- Jagiellowicz, J., Xu, X., Aron, A., Aron, E., Cao, G., Feng, T., et al. (2011). Sensory processing sensitivity and neural responses to changes in visual scenes. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 6, 38-47.
- Tsapelas, I., Aron, A., & Orbuch, T. (2009). Marital boredom now, predicts less satisfaction nine years later. Psychological Science, 20, 543-545.
- Wright, S. C., Aron, A., McLaughlin-Volpe, T., & Ropp, S. A. (1997). The extended contact effect: Knowledge of cross-group friendships and prejudice. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 73, 73-90.
Courses Taught:
- Health Psychology
- History and Systems of Psychology
- Intermediate Statistical Methods
- Introductory Psychology
- Introductory Statistical Methods
- Organizational Psychology
- Personality Psychology
- Research Methods
- Social Psychology
- Social Psychology of Close Relationships
- Social Psychology of the Self
- Tests and Measurement
Arthur Aron
Department of Psychology
Stony Brook University
Stony Brook, New York 11794-2500
United States of America
- Phone: (631) 632-7707
- Fax: (631) 632-7876
- Email: Arthur.Aron@stonybrook.edu