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Mark Seery

On the broadest level, I study stress and coping. Potentially stressful situations -- for example, test taking, interviewing for a job, competing against others, approaching potential romantic partners, and public speaking -- can represent some of the most important moments that people face in life. Situations that may appear to be similar, however, can be experienced quite differently by different individuals. A central question that guides my work is: What factors contribute to resilience versus vulnerability to potential stressors? In my current research, I focus on three core topics: (1) examining when and how high self-esteem serves as a resource versus a vulnerability, and the associated consequences for potentially destructive behavior; (2) investigating how past experience of adverse life events can contribute to developing a propensity for future resilience; and (3) exploring the role of individuals’ relationships with significant others and groups (e.g., romantic relationships, friendships, identification with sports teams) in resilience versus vulnerability. The research conducted in my laboratory incorporates a range of methodological approaches, including theoretically based psychophysiological measures.

Primary Interests:

  • Health Psychology
  • Interpersonal Processes
  • Motivation, Goal Setting
  • Neuroscience, Psychophysiology
  • Personality, Individual Differences
  • Self and Identity
  • Health Psychology
  • Interpersonal Processes
  • Motivation, Goal Setting
  • Neuroscience, Psychophysiology
  • Personality, Individual Differences
  • Self and Identity

Journal Articles:

  • Blascovich, J., Seery, M. D., Mugridge, C. A., Norris, R. K., & Weisbuch, M. (2004). Predicting athletic performance from cardiovascular indexes of challenge and threat. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 40, 683-688.
  • Lupien, S. P., Seery, M. D., & Almonte, J. L. (2012). Unstable high self-esteem and the eliciting conditions of self-doubt. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 762-765.
  • Lupien, S. P., Seery, M. D., & Almonte, J. L. (2010). Discrepant and congruent high self-esteem: Behavioral self-handicapping as a preemptive defensive strategy. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 46, 1105-1108.
  • Mendes, W. B., Reis, H., Seery, M. D., & Blascovich, J. (2003). Cardiovascular correlates of emotional expression and suppression: Do content and gender context matter? Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 84, 771-792.
  • Murray, S. L., Lupien, S. P., & Seery, M. D. (2012). Resilience in the face of romantic rejection: The automatic impulse to trust. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 845-854.
  • Seery, M. D. (in press). The biopsychosocial model of challenge and threat: Using the heart to measure the mind. Social and Personality Psychology Compass.
  • Seery, M. D. (2011). Challenge or threat? Cardiovascular indexes of resilience and vulnerability to potential stress in humans. Neuroscience and Biobehavioral Reviews, 35, 1603-1610.
  • Seery, M. D. (2011). Resilience: A silver lining to experiencing adverse life events? Current Directions in Psychological Science, 20, 390-394.
  • Seery, M. D., Blascovich, J., Weisbuch, M., & Vick, S. B. (2004). The relationship between self-esteem level, self-esteem stability, and cardiovascular reactions to performance feedback. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 87, 133-145.
  • Seery, M. D., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2010). Whatever does not kill us: Cumulative lifetime adversity, vulnerability, and resilience. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 99, 1025-1041.
  • Seery, M. D., Leo, R. J., Holman, E. A., & Silver, R. C. (2010). Lifetime exposure to adversity predicts functional impairment and healthcare utilization among individuals with chronic back pain. Pain, 150, 507-515.
  • Seery, M. D., Leo, R. J., Lupien, S. P., Kondrak, C. L., & Almonte, J. L. (in press). An upside to adversity? Moderate cumulative lifetime adversity is associated with resilient responses in the face of controlled stressors. Psychological Science.
  • Seery, M. D., Silver, R. C., Holman, E. A., Ence, W. A., & Chu, T. Q. (2008). Expressing thoughts and feelings following a collective trauma: Immediate responses to 9/11 predict negative outcomes in a national sample. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76, 657-667.
  • Seery, M. D., Weisbuch, M., & Blascovich, J. (2009). Something to gain, something to lose: The cardiovascular consequences of outcome framing. International Journal of Psychophysiology, 73, 308-312.
  • Seery, M. D., Weisbuch, M., Hetenyi, M., & Blascovich, J. (2010). Cardiovascular measures independently predict performance in a university course. Psychophysiology, 47, 535-539.
  • Seery, M. D., West, T. V., Weisbuch, M., & Blascovich, J. (2008). The effects of negative reflection for defensive pessimists: Dissipation or harnessing of threat? Personality and Individual Differences, 45, 515-520.
  • Shimizu, M., Seery, M. D., Weisbuch, M., & Lupien, S. P. (2011). Trait social anxiety and physiological activation: Cardiovascular threat during social interaction. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 37, 94-106.
  • Vick, S. B., Seery, M. D., Blascovich, J., & Weisbuch, M. (2008). The effect of gender stereotype activation on challenge and threat motivational states. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 44, 624-630.
  • Weisbuch, M., Seery, M. D., Ambady, N., & Blascovich, J. (2009). On the correspondence between physiological and nonverbal responses: Nonverbal behavior accompanying challenge and threat. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior, 33, 141-148.
  • Weisbuch-Remington, M., Mendes, W. B., Seery, M. D., & Blascovich, J. (2005). The non-conscious influence of religious symbols in motivated performance situations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 31, 1203-1216.

Courses Taught:

  • Mind-Body Connection in a Social World
  • Social Psychology
  • Social Psychophysiology
  • Mind-Body Connection in a Social World
  • Social Psychology
  • Social Psychophysiology

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Mark Seery
Department of Psychology
University at Buffalo
Park Hall
Buffalo, NY 14260-4110
United States

Phone: (716) 645-0239
Fax: (716) 645-3801

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Last edited by profile holder: April 10, 2013
Visits since October 7, 2005: 24,156