Barbara Urszula Gawda

Barbara Urszula Gawda is a Professor and Head of the Department of Psychology of Emotions and Personality at the Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Education and Psychology, Maria Curie-Skłodowska University (UMCS) in Lublin, Poland. She has been with the Institute of Psychology at UMCS since 1992 and maintains active office hours on Tuesdays and Wednesdays. Her position as department head demonstrates her leadership within the academic institution.

Professor Gawda specializes in psychology of emotions and motivation, personality psychology, and clinical psychology. Her research focuses on narrative psychology, cognitive representations of emotions, emotional concepts, psychopathology (particularly of emotions and personality), and forensic psychology. She has developed innovative assessment techniques including emotional verbal fluency methods to study emotional scripts and concepts. Her work bridges cognitive, clinical, and forensic psychology with applications in understanding personality disorders, emotional processing, and neural correlates of emotional experiences.

Professor Gawda's recent publications reveal a strong trajectory toward neuroscientific approaches to emotion research, with increasing use of functional near-infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS) to examine neural correlates of emotional processing. Her work consistently explores the structure of emotional concepts (particularly love, fear, and hate) using verbal fluency techniques. A significant theme in her recent research is the investigation of existential concepts like existential vacuum and how protective factors such as curiosity and love serve as buffers against anxiety. She has also expanded her focus to examine digital generations' emotional processing and mental health.

Professor Gawda has successfully led research projects including a National Science Center grant (2012-2015) titled 'Affective, cognitive and neural mechanisms of verbal fluency.' She has presented her work at 118 scientific conferences, including 31 international ones, demonstrating extensive scholarly engagement. Her research collaborations include work with A. Korniluk, M. Chojak, and N. Jach-Salamon on emotional processing and personality studies. She maintains active involvement with neuroimaging facilities, particularly those utilizing fNIRS technology, and has developed specialized assessment tools like the Verbal Fluency Test for adults.