Postdoctoral Fellow
Research Interests
I have a variety of research interests, many of which relate to media and individual differences in some way. My dissertation research, for example, examined the role of videogames in need satisfaction and how different genres of games might satisfy these needs differently for different people. I am passionate about research methods, quantitative methods, and open science, and am eager to work towards a more robust and replicable science. My postdoctoral research at the University of Waterloo will investigate individual differences in susceptibility to misinformation. Specifically, I’m interested in how need dissatisfaction and uncertainty might make us more susceptible to misinformation, across a variety of contexts.
Representative Publications
- Quinlan, J. A., Padgett, J. K., Khajehnassiri, A., & Mar, R. A. (2023). Does a brief exposure to literary fiction improve social ability? Assessing the evidential value of published studies with a p-curve. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General, 152(3), 723-732. https://doi.org/10.1037/xge0001302
- Quinlan, J. A., Dunk, R. J., & Mar, R. A. (2023). Weird reactions to weird Twitter: How expectation and intention relate to appreciation for absurd humor. Psychology of Popular Media, https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000476
- Fong, K., Quinlan, J. A., & Mar, R. A. (2023). Select your character: Individual needs and avatar choice. Psychology of Popular Media, 12(1), 30-39. https://doi.org/10.1037/ppm0000384
- Quinlan, J. A., & Mar, R. A. (2020). How imagination supports narrative experiences for textual, audiovisual, and interactive narratives. In A. Abraham (Ed.), The Cambridge Handbook of the Imagination (466-478). Cambridge University Press. https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108580298.028
- Bainbridge, T. F., Quinlan, J. A., Mar, R. A., & Smillie, L. D. (2019). Openness/intellect and susceptibility to pseudo‐profound bullshit: A replication and extension. European Journal of Personality, 33(1), 72-88. https://doi.org/10.1002/per.2176