Director of the BA in Psychology
Education
Ph.D., Virginia Commonwealth University
M.A., East Carolina University
B.A., Furman University
I am a social psychologist whose research and teaching areas lie at the intersection between close relationships and nonverbal behavior. I am primarily interested in nonverbal behaviors that facilitate and maintain relational intimacy and attraction (vocal cues, synchrony/mimicry, laughter, and the heartfelt gesture). I am deeply committed to student mentorship and regularly involve undergraduate and graduate students in my research.
Nonverbal communication: I am interested in nonverbal behaviors that both facilitate and maintain affiliation (vocal cues, synchrony/mimicry, laughter, the heartfelt gesture), in addition to those that are used to create and perpetuate status differences (i.e., interruption).
Social psychology: I am interested in the social psychological processes of self-fulfilling prophecy, social influence, automatic processes, and social exclusion.
Pedagogical research: I am broadly interested in impactful teaching practices, particularly those that are experiential, problem-based, immersive, and/or applied.
I also serve as the Associate Editor for Special Issues for the Journal of Nonverbal Behavior.
Close Relationships, Introductory Psychology, Social Psychology, Quantitative Methods/Statistics, Research Methods, Nonverbal Communication, Group Dynamics, The Psychology of Cults, Conspiracy Theories and Crises, The Social Psychology of Gender and Gendered Communication
Book Chapters
Glazer, S., Farley, S. D., & Rahman, T. (2021). Performance consequences of workplace ostracism. 159-188.
Eyssell, K., Farley, S. D., Shaffer, K., Soheilian, S., & Schoepf, E. H. (2021). From the 'Dregs of Society' to 'Lap Dogs of the Elite': How to Mimic the Psychological Effects of Capitalism in your Classroom. Society for the Teaching of Psychology.
Refereed Journal Articles
Farley, S. D. (2025). Introduction to the special issue on innovations in vocal research: Insights from emotion, personality perception, eyewitness accuracy and persuasion.. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 49. 3-7.
Garrah, K., Breeden, M., & Farley, S. D. (2024). The heartfelt gesture positively affects perceptions of personality. Current Psychology. 43. 34904–34913.
Farley, S. D. (2024). Introduction to the special issue on innovations in nonverbal deception research: Promising avenues for advancing the field. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 48. 5-9.
Soheilian, S. S., Shaffer, K., Schoepf, E. H., Eyssell, K., & Farley, S. D. (2023). MIMICKING THE PSYCHOLOGICAL EFFECTS OF CAPITALISM IN THE CLASSROOM: USING STARPOWER TO DEMONSTRATE UNCONSCIOUS BIAS, PRIVILEGE, AND OPPRESSION. The Journal of Campus Activities Practice and Scholarship. 5(1), 51-63.
Farley, S. D. (2022). Introduction to the special issue of the scientific study of laughter: Where we have been, current innovations, and where we might go from here.. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 46. 321-326.
Farley, S. D., Carson, D., & Hughes, S. (2022). Just seconds of laughter reveals relationship status: Laughter with friends sounds more authentic and less vulnerable than laughter with romantic partners. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 46. 421–448.
Farley, S. D. (2021). Introduction to the special issue on emotional expression beyond the face: On the importance of multiple channels of communication and context. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior. 45. 413–417.
Farley, S. D., Akin, K., & Hedgecoth, N. (2021). Exploring the meanings of the “Heartfelt” gesture – A nonverbal signal of heartfelt emotion and empathy. Journal of Nonverbal Behavior.
Mejia, C., Donahue, J., & Farley, S. D. (2020). Mean, uncommitted, and aggressive: Divergent associations between triarchic psychopathy, elements of love, and caustic relationship behaviors.. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. 37(4),
Farley, S., Carson, D., Garrah, K., Nicholson-Ryan, Z., Gambrell, S., & Hart, S. Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, "Is authentic laughter more contagious than posed laughter?," Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Denver, CO. (2025).
Garrah, K., Farley, S. D., Carson, D., Bean, C., Gambrell, S., Hart, S., & Patterson, K. Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, "Can raters differentiate the light and dark sides of laughter? Preliminary findings from the wild," Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Denver, CO. (2025).
Garrah, K., Farley, S. D., & Carson, D. Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, "The differential impact of historicist and biological narratives on perceptions of free will mechanisms, blame, and sentencing goals for criminal offenders," Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Denver, CO. (2025).
Farley, S., Carson, D., Garrah, K., Nicholson-Ryan, Z., Gambrell, S., & Hart, S. Nonverbal Preconference, "Is authentic laughter more contagious than posed laughter?," Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Denver, CO. (2025).
Garrah, K., Breeden, M., Nicholson-Ryan, Z., Gambrell, S., Bean, C., & Farley, S. D. Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, "The heartfelt gesture positively affects perceptions of personality," Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego, CA. (2024).
Kasim, A., Farley, S. D., & Marginean, I. Annual Meeting of the Association for Psychological Science, "People assign more blame to female victims of an ambiguous sexual assault scenario when framed from his perspective than her perspective," Association for Psychological Science, Washington, D.C.. (2023).
Farley, S. D., Akin, K., Smith, J., & Bean, C. Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, "The heartfelt gesture is an embodiment of kama muta.," Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Atlanta, GA. (2023).
Farley, S. D., & Carson, D. Nonverbal Preconference, "Relationship status is revealed in just seconds of laughter," Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Atlanta, GA. (2023).
Akin, K., Farley, S. D., Bean, C., Smith, J., & Carson, D. Nonverbal Preconference, "Cross-cultural perspectives on the “Heartfelt” gesture.," Society for Personality and Social Psychology, virtual. (2022).
Akin, K., Farley, S. D., Bean, C., Smith, J., & Carson, D. Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, "Cross-cultural perspectives on the “Heartfelt” gesture," Society for Personality and Social Psychology, virtual. (2022).
Spiegelman, J., & Farley, S. Mid-Atlantic Teaching of Psychology Conference, "A pandemic of flawed thinking: Motivated biases in the time of COVID," Virtual. (2021).
Farley, S. D., & Carson, D. Association for Psychological Science Virtual Convention, "Just seconds of laughter reveals relationship status – Laughter with romantic partners sounds more vulnerable and less spontaneous than laughter with friends," Association for Psychological Science, Virtual. (2021).
. D., & Akin, K. Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, "Does performing the “heartfelt” gesture intensify emotional experience?," Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Virtual. (2021).
. D., Hedgecoth, N., Singh, S., Akin, K., & Chang, T. Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, "Exploring the meanings of the "Heartfelt" gesture - Preliminary evidence of its role in emotion," Society for Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, Louisiana. (2020).
Farley, S. D. Annual Meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, "Exploring the meanings of the "Heartfelt" gesture - Preliminary evidence of its role in emotion," Society for Personality and Social Psychology, New Orleans, Louisiana. (2020).
Soheilian, S., Shaffer, K., Eyssell, K., Farley, S., & Schoepf, E. National Institute for the Teaching of Psychology, "Star Power: Qualitative look at student responses to experiential exercise on power and privilege in a capitalist economy," St. Pete Beach, Florida. (2020).
Spiegelman, J., & Farley, S. National Institute for the Teaching of Psychology, "Want to be comfy? You've come to the wrong place!," St. Pete Beach, Florida. (2020).
Farley, Sally Dew, King, Kahlil , Mitchell, Thomas , Tan, Yunzi Rae, Wynne, Kevin , Adler, Joseph , "Provost’s Grant for Collaboration and Innovation" Sponsored by Office of the Provost, The University of Baltimore, $30000. (2025).
On The Record with Sheilah: What can your laugh tell about you? A UBalt researcher is finding out
https://www.wypr.org/show/on-the-record/2025-03-19/what-can-your-laugh-tell-about-you-a-ubalt-researcher-is-finding-out (2025).
The Times: I answered queries from an English science writer named Sophie Freeman. She wrote an article which appeared on the front page of the Times. (2023).
"Nonverbal behavior and multicultural factors in the therapeutic working alliance." (Planning)
Observational and quantitative analysis of nonverbal behavior and multicultural demographic variables of therapists and clients in mock therapy sessions and their contributions to the therapeutic working alliance.