Tracy DeHart

Tracy DeHart serves as Professor of Social Psychology and Graduate Program Director for Social Psychology at Loyola University Chicago.

Education:

• Post-Doctorate Fellowship: University of Connecticut Medical Center (Alcohol Research Center)
• Doctorate: Ph.D., State University of New York at Buffalo
• Bachelors: University of Wisconsin—Madison

Research Focus: Dr. DeHart investigates implicit and explicit self-esteem formation, examining how early experiences shape self-evaluations and influence dependency regulation in close relationships, health behaviors (including alcohol consumption), and discrimination's impact on relationship functioning. Her work bridges social psychology, health psychology, and discrimination studies through experimental and longitudinal methodologies.

Leadership and Funding: As Graduate Program Director, she oversees curriculum development and student mentoring. She secured National Science Foundation funding (2012-2015) as Principal Investigator for "Relations Between Perceived Discrimination and Romantic Relationship Functioning Among African American Couples," demonstrating sustained research productivity in socially relevant areas.

Laboratory Affiliation: She directs the SA Lab (Social and Affective Laboratory), accessible via her professional website, which serves as the operational hub for her research program examining self-processes in interpersonal contexts.