Judith Gere

Judith Gere is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological Sciences at Kent State University, primarily affiliated with the social-health psychology graduate program and the Quantitative Concentration program. She previously served as a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at Penn State University's Center for Healthy Aging and holds a PhD in social-personality psychology from the University of Toronto, supported by a doctoral fellowship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council.

Research Focus: Dr. Gere investigates factors influencing subjective well-being, with emphasis on romantic relationships and goal pursuit dynamics. Her work examines how partners influence each other's goals, resolve goal conflicts, and facilitate personal growth through self-expansion. She employs advanced methodologies including dyadic designs, longitudinal studies, daily diaries, structural equation modeling, and multilevel modeling to explore these processes.

Article Analysis: Her publications consistently focus on dyadic interactions in romantic relationships, examining perception accuracy, goal conflicts, and health behavior influences. Recent meta-analytic work synthesizes findings on partner perception biases, while daily-diary studies capture real-time relationship dynamics. Key themes include self-expansion activities, sacrifice motives, and partner influence on health behaviors.

Awards & Honors:

• Doctoral Fellowship, Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council

Advising & Labs: Dr. Gere mentors graduate students through her GERE (Goals, Emotions, and Relationship Experiences) Lab, currently advising Emily Connard, Jenna Kilian, and Laramie Martinez. She has supervised numerous alumni including Jessica LaBuda (now Assistant Professor) and Alexandra Chong (Research Analyst). Her lab employs rigorous quantitative methods to study relationship processes and well-being.