Dara N. Greenwood

Dara Greenwood earned her BA from Wesleyan University and her MS and PhD in Social/Personality Psychology from the University of Massachusetts, Amherst. Before joining the Vassar faculty in 2010, she was on faculty in the interdisciplinary Communication Studies Department at the University of Michigan. She teaches courses in social psychology and media psychology (e.g., media and the social self).

Professor Greenwood’s research explores how individuals’ psychological tendencies (e.g., attachment style, body image, belongingness needs) are related to the nature and degree of their engagement with the social environment of the mass media. She is also interested in how representations of gender in the mass media interact with and affect individuals’ perceptions of themselves and each other. Methodologically, Professor Greenwood relies on self-report surveys as well as lab experiments.