Lisa G. Aspinwall, PhD
She/Her
I am lesbian and I am an experimental social psychologist.//
I study how people think about the future in general and future health risks in particular. I study people’s mental models for genetic risks and whether they may be modified by personal behavior or environmental exposure. It turns out that people with very high familial cancer risk reject notions of genetic determinism, believing instead that healthy behaviors can reduce their risk and that unhealthful behaviors can make their risk skyrocket.
I earned my B.A. at Stanford and my Ph.D. at UCLA. I waited to come out until I had tenure (the 1990s were rough – check out Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell). When I joined the faculty at the University of Utah, I founded my field’s first GLBTQ alliance (GASP) as an official affiliate of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. We will soon celebrate our 25th anniversary and have 500 members worldwide. In 2021, I cofounded DARN (Disability Advocacy & Research Network). What motivated me to create both groups was that I saw wonderful bright talented (and really discouraged) people leaving our field because there was no mentorship and no visibility. We now host mentorship luncheons attended by 200 underrepresented scholars and allies each year. Do tell!