Rate My Professor Amanda Vicary

Amanda Vicary is an Associate Professor of Business in the School of Business and Economics at Illinois Wesleyan University. She earned her Ph.D. in Social-Personality Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign in 2011, with minors in Quantitative Psychology and Developmental Psychology; an M.A. in Social Psychology from the same university in 2006; a B.S. in Psychology, summa cum laude, from Bradley University in 2004; and an M.B.A. from Western Governors University in 2024. During her graduate studies, she received distinguished teaching honors, including the Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching-Campus Award ($3,500, 2011), the Lynn Martin Award for Distinguished Teachers ($2,000, 2011), Instructor of the Year in the Psychology Department ($250, 2010), and multiple List of Teachers Ranked as Excellent by their Students designations. She joined Illinois Wesleyan University in 2011 and has served in leadership roles, including as department chair and on various campus committees. Dr. Vicary teaches courses bridging psychology and business, such as Consumer Behavior, Organizational Behavior, Human Resource Management, and Crime and the Justice System.

Dr. Vicary's research explores crime, the criminal justice system, and popular media, focusing on the cultural fascination with true crime, wrongful convictions, public perceptions of crime, and romantic relationships formed when one person is incarcerated. Her scholarship has been published in leading journals, including Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, and Social Psychological and Personality Science. Key publications include "Captured by True Crime: Why Are Women Drawn to Tales of Rape, Murder, and Serial Killers?" (Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2010), "Patterns of Stability in Adult Attachment: An Empirical Test of Two Models of Continuity and Change" (2011), "The Experiences in Close Relationships—Relationship Structures Questionnaire: A Method for Assessing Attachment Orientations Across Relationships" (2011), "Attachment Features and Functions in Adult Romantic Relationships" (2012), and "Student Reactions to the Shootings at Virginia Tech and Northern Illinois University: Does Sharing Grief and Support Over the Internet Affect Recovery?" (2010). She has secured multiple grants, such as Illinois Wesleyan University Artistic and Scholarly Development Grants (2019, $2,000; 2016, $2,000; 2013, $2,000), Instructional Development Grants, Curriculum Development Grants, and the President's Innovation Fund (2022, $500). Her expertise has been featured in The Washington Post, Forbes, CNN, NPR, and television programs on Investigation Discovery, Oxygen, and HBO. Dr. Vicary has delivered numerous invited public lectures on true crime and wrongful convictions at public libraries and schools, including over 15 talks across Illinois libraries in 2022 alone.