Dr. Arthur Frankel

I've been a member of the Department of Psychology since 1978. I currently teach courses focusing on social psychology, the psychology of prejudice, psychology and the law, and critical thinking and decision making. In recent years, much of my time is devoted to teaching these courses more effectively and finding ways to encourage my students to think carefully about psychological issues, particularly as they might apply to their own lives. My early research focused mostly on egotism, self-handicapping and attribution and was published in prominent social psychology journals. Early in my career, I served as a reviewer for these journals and was a member of the editorial board of the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology in the 1980s. My more recent research, which has been published in the journal Sex Roles and presented at national and regional conferences, has focused on how gender role expectations are likely to inhibit women's attempts to safeguard their sexual health as well as contribute to misunderstandings between men and women. I have also collaborated with many undergraduates over the last several years on problems that are of mutual interest, resulting in research studies that have been presented at regional and national psychology conferences. If you look at my CV, almost all my co-authors for conference presentations over the last 40 years have been undergraduate students.

I’ve been married for 49 years, have two sons, a daughter-in-law, a grandson (8-year-old Abraham James), and a granddaughter (5-year-old Charlotte Marie). My youngest son, Andrew, is in the dissertation stage of his Ph.D. program in the sociology of education at the Curry School of the University of Virginia. My other son, Matthew, is a lawyer working at Holy Cross University. Kate, my daughter-in-law, is an assistant professor of education at Boston University.

I was born in Brooklyn, New York and attended PS 89, PS 119, JHS 240 and Midwood High School before leaving (escaping) New York City to attend college at SUNY New Paltz, where I obtained both my bachelor's and master's degrees in psychology. I obtained my Ph.D. in experimental social psychology from Dartmouth College and had a postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Connecticut Health Center in the Department of Behavioral Science and Community Health before coming to Salve Regina in the fall of 1978.

My extracurricular activities include trying to stay in shape, persuading myself that I'm always right, and sampling an occasional glass of single malt scotch (which definitely enhances my mental fitness if not my physical fitness). I like to talk about sports psychology, science and pseudoscience, and teaching, and enjoy conversations with funny and/or unusual people. If you qualify, I can be found on the third floor of McAuley Hall in Room 316 and can be reached at frankel@salve.edu or at (401) 341-3117.