Laura Machia’s research interests center on understanding why some relationships succeed (i.e., remain satisfying and rewarding over time), whereas others fail (i.e., fail to meet important needs or dissolve). Specifically, her work examines how people experience moments in their relationships, acknowledging that those moments are embedded in relationships with emergent properties and in the larger context of time and history.

Social Psychology, Close Relationships

Machia, L. V., Niehuis, S., & Joel. S. (2023). Breaking up is hard to study: A review of two decades of dissolution research. Personal Relationships, 30, 113-143. doi: 10.1111/pere.12437.

Caselli, A. J. & Machia, L. V. (2022). Discrimination is not just Black and White in romantic relationships: A consideration of perspective taking and self-expansion. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 123, 741-762. doi: 10.1037/pspi0000380.

Machia, L. V. & Ogolsky, B. G. (2021). The reasons people think about staying and leaving their romantic relationships: A mixed-method analysis. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 47, 1279-1293. doi: 10.1177/0146167220966903.

Machia, L. V. & Proulx, M. (2020). The diverging effects of need fulfillment obtained from within and outside of a romantic relationship. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 46, 781-793. doi: 10.1177/0146167219877849.

VanderDrift, L. E., Antshel, K. M., & GOlszewski, A. K. (2019). Inattention and hyperactivity-impulsivity: Their detrimental effect on romantic relationship maintenance. Journal of Attention Disorders, 23, 985-994. doi: 10.1177/1087054717707043.

Baker, L. R., McNulty, J. K., & VanderDrift, L. E. (2017). Expectations for future relationship satisfaction: Unique sources and critical implications for commitment. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 146, 700-721. doi: 10.1037/xge0000299.

VanderDrift, L. E., GIoerger, M., GMitzel, L. D., & Vanable, P. A. (2017). Partner support, willingness to sacrifice, and HIV medication self-efficacy. AIDS and Behavior, 21, 2519-2525. doi: 10.1007/s10461-017-1698-5.

Arriaga, X. B., Kumashiro, M., Finkel, E. J., VanderDrift, L. E., & Luchies, L. B. (2014). Filling the void: Bolstering attachment security in committed relationships. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5, 398-405. doi: 10.1177/1948550613509287.

VanderDrift, L. E. & Agnew, C. R. (2014). Relational consequences of personal goal pursuits. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106, 927-940. doi: 10.1037/a0036180.