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The field of experience sampling methods (ESM) and ecological momentary assessments (EMA) is rapidly evolving, and many bright minds are contributing to the field.
Established founding researchers in this realm, such as Mihaly Csikszentmihalyi, Arthur Stone, and Saul Schiffman, are household names. Yet, as the field grows and evolves, up-and-coming researchers also contribute significantly to our understanding of how different psychological phenomena unfold over time.
With the ExpiWell dissertation award, we seek to spotlight, elevate, and award doctoral students or recent PhDs for their groundbreaking ESM and EMA work. We aim to grow, contribute, and give back to the ESM and EMA community.
While we had many excellent applications this year, we only had two awards to give. This year, the dissertation awards go to Christiane Büttner and JaNiene Peoples.
Christiane studies how people experience social interactions, particularly in how they experience being ostracized. At the same time, JaNiene understands the risk and protective factors of mental health and substance use among Black emerging adults and college students. We have much to learn from both doing fascinating and groundbreaking research.
See below for their profiles and videos sharing their work and tips for ESM and EMA researchers.
Christiane Büttner is a PhD candidate in Social Psychology at the University of Basel, Switzerland. She studies how people experience social interactions in their daily life, particularly, how they experience being ostracized (excluded and ignored) by others. To investigate these experiences in participants’ daily lives, Christiane uses event- and time-contingent experience sampling.
Her PhD project was funded by a Doc.CH grant awarded to her by the Swiss National Science Foundation and complemented by a six-month research stay at Purdue University in Kip Williams’ Ostracism lab. Other research lines include why people decide to ostracize others, how digital technologies and social media influence ostracism experiences, and what makes everyday social interactions energizing versus draining.
Christiane’s research takes a broad approach to understanding humans’ social interactions and has been published in journals of different sub-disciplines of psychology, such as social and personality psychology, media psychology, and clinical psychology.
Ostracism in Everyday Life: Advancements Through Experience Sampling
JaNiene Peoples is a Social Work PhD candidate in the Brown School at Washington University in St. Louis and a National Institute on Drug Abuse (NIDA) T32 Predoctoral Fellow. She studies risk and protective factors influencing mental health and substance use among Black emerging adults and college students through a health equity lens.
JaNiene applies biopsychosocial frameworks, digital health, and advanced methodology (e.g., ecological momentary assessment [EMA]) within her area of research. Her dissertation, funded by a NIDA Dissertation Research Award (R36) and the Grand Challenges for Social Work, utilizes the ecological validity of EMA to investigate how racial discrimination “gets under the skin” to increase Black college students’ substance use risk.
JaNiene’s research is published in high-impact journals, such as Drug and Alcohol Dependence and the Journal of Psychiatric Research, among others. Prior to her doctoral studies, she obtained a Bachelor’s degree in Health and Human Performance from the University of Memphis, a Master’s degree in Health Education from Texas A&M University, and worked at Vanderbilt University as a Well-being, Academic, and Substance Use Coach.
Ecological Momentary Assessment of Mechanisms Linking Racial Discrimination and Substance Use in Black College Students
ExpiWell congratulates JaNiene Peoples and Christiane Büttner on conducting research that contributes to innovative positive changes in their respective fields. It is inspiring to see rising EMA/ESM researchers making significant contributions to our community!
Aside from these bright researchers, ExpiWell would also like to extend gratitude to other EMA/ESM researchers who are continuously using their research work to understand the world around us. Let’s keep pursuing our passion for EMA/ESM research so we can strive for a better future.
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