Jessica L. Hartnett

Watch a Biography of Jessica Hartnett

As a social psychologist, my areas of research interest have to do with emotions and how they shape the way we look at our past and anticipate the future. Specifically, I am interested in the fading affect bias and affective forecasting error. The fading affect bias suggests negative affect associated with negative memories fades away faster than the positive affect associated with good memories. Affective forecasting refers to our tendency to overestimate the duration and magnitude of our emotional reactions to future life events, both positive and negative. Both theories are somewhat counter-intuitive and suggest that our minds are constantly and non-consciously working to keep us happy and motivated to work toward goals that we think will make us happy. Relatedly, I teach Positive Psychology at Gannon and have co-authored a book about the fading affect bias (Pollyanna's Revenge, 2014, 2017).

In addition to Positive Psychology, I also teach Social Psychology, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, and will Motivation and Emotion. I also teach Psychological Statistics frequently and have published and presented research related to best methods for the teaching of statistics and maintain my blog, http://notawfulandboring.blogspot.com/, to share my ideas about making statistics entertaining (yes, it can be done).

Awards-Recognition

? American Psychological Association, Distinguished Scholar Lectures for Teaching, 2024
? Society for the Teaching of Psychology, Mentorship of Teachers Award, 2023
? Gannon University, Undergraduate Research Award, 2020

Courses Taught

Industrial-Organizational Psychology
Motivation and Emotion
Psychological Statistics
Psychological Statistics Lab
Positive Psychology
Social Psychology

Educational History

Ph.D., Social/Industrial-Organizational Psychology, May 2009

Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois
Dissertation: “More Affect, Less Forecast: The Role of Mood in Affective Forecasting”
Chair: Dr. John Skowronski

M.A., Social/Industrial-Organizational Psychology, May 2006

Northern Illinois University, DeKalb, Illinois
Thesis: “The Effect of Materialism on Affective Forecasting”
Chair: Dr. John Skowronski

B.S., Psychology, Biological and Evolutionary Sciences Concentration, May 2001

Pennsylvania State University, University Park, PA

Professional Experience

Professor, Gannon University, Department of Psychology and Counseing, 2025-present
Associate Professor, Gannon University, Department of Psychology and Counseling, 2016-2025
Assistant Professor, Gannon University, Department of Psychology and Counseling, 2010 - 2016
Visiting Professor, Gannon University, Department of Psychology and Counseling, 2009-2010
Adjunct Faculty, Aurora University, Department of Psychology, 2008-2009
Adjunct Faculty, Kishwaukee College, College of Arts/Communications/Social Sciences, 2006-2009
Instructor, Northern Illinois University, Department of Psychology, 2003-2009

Publications

Book

Hartnett, J. L. (2024). Psychological Statistics for Everyone. New York: W.W. Norton & Company

Research Articles

Freeman, E., Karazsia, B., Shaw, R., Soicher, R., Woodward, A.M., Ullman, J., Young Reusser, A., Hartnett, J.L. (2022). 2021 Statistical Literacy, Reasoning, and Thinking: Guidelines 2.0—Psychology Curriculum Subcommittee. Society for the Teaching of Psychology.

Neufeld, G., Aguilera, S. E., Goedert, K., Peters, J., Rao, V. N. V., Sathy, V., Smith, T., & Hartnett, J. (2022). 2021 Statistical Literacy, Reasoning, and Thinking: Guidelines 2.0—TIPS Subcommittee. Society for the Teaching of Psychology.

Kath, L.M., Schmidt, G.B., Islam, S., Jimenez, W.P., & Hartnett, J.L. (2022). Getting psyched about memes in the psychology classroom. Teaching of Psychology.

Hartnett, J.L. & Edlund, J.E. (2020). Critical thinking and discussion boards in undergraduate research methods. Currents in Teaching and Learning. 12(1), 57-65.

Heider, J.D., Perez, E., Edlund, J.E., & Hartnett, J.L. (2020). Perceptions and Understanding of Research Situations as a Function of Consent Form Characteristics and Experimenter Instructions Methods in Psychology. Methods in Psychology. 2