Special Shoutout to Kate Sweeny!

Kate has made unique and important contributions to the theoretical and scientific merging of social personality psychology and health psychology.  Her research focuses on threat management – that is, how people give news of, prepare for, and respond to negative life events.  Her research on uncertainty navigation processes has produced critical theoretical and empirical insights into the understudied experience of awaiting uncertain news; addressing important questions such as how do people manage their anxiety and what strategies do they employ as they await uncertain news regarding their own or their loved ones’ health.  Her work melds together the study of health, risk judgments, coping, decision-making, emotion, and communication.  Kate’s ability to seamlessly fuse the core theoretical and methodological elements of social, personality and health psychology towards a pressing and vexing health problem make Kate the ideal recipient of this inaugural award.