Danu Anthony Stinson
Biographic Data
| ID | 109651 |
|---|---|
| NAME | Danu Anthony Stinson |
| GIVEN NAMES | Danu Anthony |
| FAMILY NAME | Stinson |
| SIGNATURE | STINSON D A |
| AFFILIATIONS | University of Victoria |
| ORCID | 0000-0003-1492-7133 |
| VERIFIED | Yes |
| TOTAL WORKS | 17 |
| TOTAL CITATIONS | 44 |
| AUTHOR COUNT | 17 |
| EDITOR COUNT | 0 |
| FIRST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2008 |
| LATEST PUBLICATION YEAR | 2025 |
| H-INDEX | 4 |
A Recipe for Disaster?”: Female-Breadwinner Relationships Threaten Heterosexual Scripts
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11199-025-01560-y
The Friends-to-Lovers Pathway to Romance: Prevalent, Preferred, and Overlooked by Science
There is more than one pathway to romance, but relationship science does not reflect this reality. Our research reveals that relationship initiation studies published in popular journals (Study 1) and cited in popular textbooks (Study 2) overwhelmingly focus on romance that sparks between strangers and largely overlook romance that develops between friends. This limited focus might be justified if friends-first initiation was rare or undesirable,…
Singlehood and Attunement of Self-Esteem to Friendships
Romantic relationships activate a process of psychological attunement whereby self-esteem becomes responsive to the romantic bond, thereby potentially benefitting relationship quality and bolstering self-esteem. Yet some people are romantically single, raising the question: Do single people also exhibit psychological attunement? In a 2-year longitudinal study of young adults ( N = 279), we test whether singles psychologically attune to their frie…
The tell-tale heart: Self-esteem, arousal, and relationship initiation
Drawing upon risk-regulation theory and classic theories of interpersonal attraction, two experiments (N = 117 and N = 401) tested the hypothesis that self-esteem and arousal interact to regulate the desire to connect with new social partners. A mini-meta-analysis confirmed that when arousal (or its influence) was stronger, self-esteem was strongly and positively associated with connection motivation (d = .53), but when arousal (or its influence)…
Gender (mis)measurement: Guidelines for respecting gender diversity in psychological research
Empirical evidence affirms that gender is a nonbinary spectrum. Yet our review of recently published empirical articles reveals that demographic gender measurement in psychology still assumes that gender comprises just two categories: women and men. This common practice is problematic. It fails to represent psychologists' current understanding of gender, violates our ethical principles as scientists, and can result in gender misclassification. Ps…
Self-esteem, epistemic needs, and responses to social feedback
People with lower self-esteem (LSEs) suffer from poor relational well-being. This may occur, in part, because LSEs’ epistemic needs constrain their ability to benefit from positive social feedback. Consistent with this hypothesis, LSEs felt undeserving of positive social feedback, which undermined their relational well-being (Experiment 1). After receiving positive social feedback, LSEs displayed an equal preference for additional positive and ne…
Self-Esteem Reflects Assessments of Valuation
The robust self-esteem proxy: Impressions of self-esteem inform judgments of personality and social value
People use impressions of an evaluative target’s self-esteem to infer their possession of socially desirable traits. But will people still use this self-esteem proxy when trait-relevant diagnostic information is available? We test this possibility in two experiments: participants learn that a target person has low or high self-esteem, and then receive diagnostic information about the target’s academic success or failure and positive or negative a…
The good, the bad, and the risky: Self-esteem, rewards and costs, and interpersonal risk regulation during relationship initiation
Social risk interacts with self-esteem to predict relationship-initiation motivation and behavior. However, because socially risky situations afford both rewards and costs, it is unclear which affordance is responsible for these effects. Two experiments primed social rewards or costs within different relationship-initiation contexts and then evaluated participants' relationship-initiation motivation and behavior. Results revealed that global self…
A little acceptance is good for your health: Interpersonal messages and weight change over time
This research examines whether acceptance messages from close others about one's weight predict changes in stressful weight concern and body mass index (BMI) over time. Participants reported weight concern and BMI in three waves of data collection spanning approximately 9 months, and reported the messages they received from parents, friends, and romantic partners concerning their weight in the second wave of data collection. Participants normativ…
Warming Up and Cooling Down: Self-Esteem and Behavioral Responses to Social Threat During Relationship Initiation
Social threats during relationship initiation often cause people to engage in cold behaviors that bring about rejection. However, interpersonal risk-regulation theory suggests that such processes will be moderated by global self-esteem. In two experiments that manipulated the threat of rejection, single participants communicated via video camera with an opposite-sex interaction partner (actually a confederate). As expected, social threat caused h…
The Bold and the Bashful: Self-Esteem, Gender, and Relationship Initiation
Successful romantic relationship initiation often requires bold and direct action, but direct action can increase the possibility of rejection. These dual possible outcomes create interpersonal risk, which should prompt self-esteem differences in behavior. When risk is present, lower self-esteem individuals, who prefer to avoid social costs, will be less likely to use direct initiation behaviors than higher self-esteem individuals, who prefer to …
Sex, “Lies,” and Videotape: Self-Esteem and Successful Presentation of Gender Roles
When presenting themselves to others, people attempt to create the impression that they possess socially desired traits. Verbally claiming to possess such traits is relatively simple, but making good on one’s promises by actually behaving in kind is more challenging. In particular, lower self-esteem individuals’ relational insecurity may undermine their ability to present themselves in a socially desired manner. The present research used a behavi…
The regulatory function of self-esteem: Testing the epistemic and acceptance signaling systems
The authors draw on sociometer theory (e.g., Leary, 2004) and self-verification theory (e.g., Swann, 1997) to propose an expanded model of the regulatory function of self-esteem. The model suggests that people not only possess an acceptance signaling system that indicates whether relational value is high or low but also possess an epistemic signaling system that indicates whether social feedback is consistent or inconsistent with chronic perceive…
Acceptance is in the eye of the beholder: Self-esteem and motivated perceptions of acceptance from the opposite sex
Social risk elicits self-esteem differences in signature social motivations and behaviors during the relationship-initiation process. In particular, the present research tested the hypothesis that lower self-esteem individuals' (LSEs) motivation to avoid rejection leads them to self-protectively underestimate acceptance from potential romantic partners, whereas higher self-esteem individuals' (HSEs) motivation to promote new relationships leads t…
Fostering partner dependence as trust insurance: The implicit contingencies of the exchange script in close relationships
A model of the trust-insurance system is proposed to examine how people with low and high self-esteem cope with the interdependence dilemma posed by feeling inferior to a romantic partner. Feeling inferior automatically activates "if-then" contingencies that link inferiority to the exchange script (i.e., partner qualities are evenly traded) and exchange script anxieties to reparative efforts to secure a partner's dependence. A daily diary study o…
The cost of lower self-esteem: Testing a self- and social-bonds model of health
The authors draw upon social, personality, and health psychology to propose and test a self-and-social-bonds model of health. The model contends that lower self-esteem predicts health problems and that poor-quality social bonds explain this association. In Study 1, lower self-esteem prospectively predicted reports of health problems 2 months later, and this association was explained by subjective reports of poor social bonds. Study 2 replicated t…
The cost of lower self-esteem: Testing a self- and social-bonds model of health
The authors draw upon social, personality, and health psychology to propose and test a self-and-social-bonds model of health. The model contends that lower self-esteem predicts health problems and that poor-quality social bonds explain this association. In Study 1, lower self-esteem prospectively predicted reports of health problems 2 months later, and this association was explained by subjective reports of poor social bonds. Study 2 replicated t…
Acceptance is in the eye of the beholder: Self-esteem and motivated perceptions of acceptance from the opposite sex
Social risk elicits self-esteem differences in signature social motivations and behaviors during the relationship-initiation process. In particular, the present research tested the hypothesis that lower self-esteem individuals' (LSEs) motivation to avoid rejection leads them to self-protectively underestimate acceptance from potential romantic partners, whereas higher self-esteem individuals' (HSEs) motivation to promote new relationships leads t…
Fostering partner dependence as trust insurance: The implicit contingencies of the exchange script in close relationships
A model of the trust-insurance system is proposed to examine how people with low and high self-esteem cope with the interdependence dilemma posed by feeling inferior to a romantic partner. Feeling inferior automatically activates "if-then" contingencies that link inferiority to the exchange script (i.e., partner qualities are evenly traded) and exchange script anxieties to reparative efforts to secure a partner's dependence. A daily diary study o…
The regulatory function of self-esteem: Testing the epistemic and acceptance signaling systems
The authors draw on sociometer theory (e.g., Leary, 2004) and self-verification theory (e.g., Swann, 1997) to propose an expanded model of the regulatory function of self-esteem. The model suggests that people not only possess an acceptance signaling system that indicates whether relational value is high or low but also possess an epistemic signaling system that indicates whether social feedback is consistent or inconsistent with chronic perceive…
The good, the bad, and the risky: Self-esteem, rewards and costs, and interpersonal risk regulation during relationship initiation
Social risk interacts with self-esteem to predict relationship-initiation motivation and behavior. However, because socially risky situations afford both rewards and costs, it is unclear which affordance is responsible for these effects. Two experiments primed social rewards or costs within different relationship-initiation contexts and then evaluated participants' relationship-initiation motivation and behavior. Results revealed that global self…
The cost of lower self-esteem: Testing a self- and social-bonds model of health
The authors draw upon social, personality, and health psychology to propose and test a self-and-social-bonds model of health. The model contends that lower self-esteem predicts health problems and that poor-quality social bonds explain this association. In Study 1, lower self-esteem prospectively predicted reports of health problems 2 months later, and this association was explained by subjective reports of poor social bonds. Study 2 replicated t…
Fostering partner dependence as trust insurance: The implicit contingencies of the exchange script in close relationships
A model of the trust-insurance system is proposed to examine how people with low and high self-esteem cope with the interdependence dilemma posed by feeling inferior to a romantic partner. Feeling inferior automatically activates "if-then" contingencies that link inferiority to the exchange script (i.e., partner qualities are evenly traded) and exchange script anxieties to reparative efforts to secure a partner's dependence. A daily diary study o…
The regulatory function of self-esteem: Testing the epistemic and acceptance signaling systems
The authors draw on sociometer theory (e.g., Leary, 2004) and self-verification theory (e.g., Swann, 1997) to propose an expanded model of the regulatory function of self-esteem. The model suggests that people not only possess an acceptance signaling system that indicates whether relational value is high or low but also possess an epistemic signaling system that indicates whether social feedback is consistent or inconsistent with chronic perceive…
Acceptance is in the eye of the beholder: Self-esteem and motivated perceptions of acceptance from the opposite sex
Social risk elicits self-esteem differences in signature social motivations and behaviors during the relationship-initiation process. In particular, the present research tested the hypothesis that lower self-esteem individuals' (LSEs) motivation to avoid rejection leads them to self-protectively underestimate acceptance from potential romantic partners, whereas higher self-esteem individuals' (HSEs) motivation to promote new relationships leads t…
Sex, “Lies,” and Videotape: Self-Esteem and Successful Presentation of Gender Roles
When presenting themselves to others, people attempt to create the impression that they possess socially desired traits. Verbally claiming to possess such traits is relatively simple, but making good on one’s promises by actually behaving in kind is more challenging. In particular, lower self-esteem individuals’ relational insecurity may undermine their ability to present themselves in a socially desired manner. The present research used a behavi…
The Bold and the Bashful: Self-Esteem, Gender, and Relationship Initiation
Successful romantic relationship initiation often requires bold and direct action, but direct action can increase the possibility of rejection. These dual possible outcomes create interpersonal risk, which should prompt self-esteem differences in behavior. When risk is present, lower self-esteem individuals, who prefer to avoid social costs, will be less likely to use direct initiation behaviors than higher self-esteem individuals, who prefer to …
A little acceptance is good for your health: Interpersonal messages and weight change over time
This research examines whether acceptance messages from close others about one's weight predict changes in stressful weight concern and body mass index (BMI) over time. Participants reported weight concern and BMI in three waves of data collection spanning approximately 9 months, and reported the messages they received from parents, friends, and romantic partners concerning their weight in the second wave of data collection. Participants normativ…
Warming Up and Cooling Down: Self-Esteem and Behavioral Responses to Social Threat During Relationship Initiation
Social threats during relationship initiation often cause people to engage in cold behaviors that bring about rejection. However, interpersonal risk-regulation theory suggests that such processes will be moderated by global self-esteem. In two experiments that manipulated the threat of rejection, single participants communicated via video camera with an opposite-sex interaction partner (actually a confederate). As expected, social threat caused h…
The good, the bad, and the risky: Self-esteem, rewards and costs, and interpersonal risk regulation during relationship initiation
Social risk interacts with self-esteem to predict relationship-initiation motivation and behavior. However, because socially risky situations afford both rewards and costs, it is unclear which affordance is responsible for these effects. Two experiments primed social rewards or costs within different relationship-initiation contexts and then evaluated participants' relationship-initiation motivation and behavior. Results revealed that global self…
Self-Esteem Reflects Assessments of Valuation
The robust self-esteem proxy: Impressions of self-esteem inform judgments of personality and social value
People use impressions of an evaluative target’s self-esteem to infer their possession of socially desirable traits. But will people still use this self-esteem proxy when trait-relevant diagnostic information is available? We test this possibility in two experiments: participants learn that a target person has low or high self-esteem, and then receive diagnostic information about the target’s academic success or failure and positive or negative a…
Self-esteem, epistemic needs, and responses to social feedback
People with lower self-esteem (LSEs) suffer from poor relational well-being. This may occur, in part, because LSEs’ epistemic needs constrain their ability to benefit from positive social feedback. Consistent with this hypothesis, LSEs felt undeserving of positive social feedback, which undermined their relational well-being (Experiment 1). After receiving positive social feedback, LSEs displayed an equal preference for additional positive and ne…
Gender (mis)measurement: Guidelines for respecting gender diversity in psychological research
Empirical evidence affirms that gender is a nonbinary spectrum. Yet our review of recently published empirical articles reveals that demographic gender measurement in psychology still assumes that gender comprises just two categories: women and men. This common practice is problematic. It fails to represent psychologists' current understanding of gender, violates our ethical principles as scientists, and can result in gender misclassification. Ps…
Singlehood and Attunement of Self-Esteem to Friendships
Romantic relationships activate a process of psychological attunement whereby self-esteem becomes responsive to the romantic bond, thereby potentially benefitting relationship quality and bolstering self-esteem. Yet some people are romantically single, raising the question: Do single people also exhibit psychological attunement? In a 2-year longitudinal study of young adults ( N = 279), we test whether singles psychologically attune to their frie…
The tell-tale heart: Self-esteem, arousal, and relationship initiation
Drawing upon risk-regulation theory and classic theories of interpersonal attraction, two experiments (N = 117 and N = 401) tested the hypothesis that self-esteem and arousal interact to regulate the desire to connect with new social partners. A mini-meta-analysis confirmed that when arousal (or its influence) was stronger, self-esteem was strongly and positively associated with connection motivation (d = .53), but when arousal (or its influence)…
The Friends-to-Lovers Pathway to Romance: Prevalent, Preferred, and Overlooked by Science
There is more than one pathway to romance, but relationship science does not reflect this reality. Our research reveals that relationship initiation studies published in popular journals (Study 1) and cited in popular textbooks (Study 2) overwhelmingly focus on romance that sparks between strangers and largely overlook romance that develops between friends. This limited focus might be justified if friends-first initiation was rare or undesirable,…
A Recipe for Disaster?”: Female-Breadwinner Relationships Threaten Heterosexual Scripts
The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s11199-025-01560-y
Psychology (17 works) · Social Psychology (17 works) · Developmental psychology (11 works) · Self-esteem (11 works) · Attachment and Relationship Dynamics (8 works) · Evolutionary Psychology and Human Behavior (7 works) · Social and Intergroup Psychology (7 works) · Behavioral Health and Interventions (6 works) · Social Psychology (6 works) · Death Anxiety and Social Exclusion (5 works)