Rate My Professor Brian Richards

Dr. Brian Richards is an Associate Professor of Psychology in the Department of Social Sciences at Shawnee State University, where he joined the faculty in 2013 following the completion of his Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Ohio University that same year. Committed to excellence in both teaching and scholarship, he delivers key undergraduate courses such as Quantitative Methods in Psychology (PSYC 2120), Social Psychology (PSYC 3140), Positive Psychology (PSYC 3145), Psychology of Work (PSYC 4140), and Experimental Psychology. In his Experimental Psychology course, every student engages in hands-on research projects, fostering practical experience and contributing to the university's emphasis on student-centered learning.

Dr. Richards' research focuses on the psychology of moral judgments, relationship satisfaction and the role of social media, attraction, social judgments of willpower failures, and the psychological impacts of online well-being interventions. He actively mentors undergraduate students, enabling them to co-author presentations at prestigious venues including the Midwestern Psychological Association annual conference in Chicago, where in 2023 his mentees explored the effectiveness of art therapy for treating depression, and Shawnee State University's Celebration of Scholarship, featuring work on the influence of color on interpersonal attraction. Other student-mentored projects cover topics such as the influence of dreams on perceived probabilities, emotional responses to music, perceptions of war poetry in experiential contexts, differing video game preferences with educational implications, social media comparisons and well-being, online interventions for improving well-being, perspectives on extraterrestrial civilizations, and golden behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic. In collaboration with Dr. Kyle Vick and three students, he contributed to research on well-being promoting activities, resulting in the 2023 book 'Self-Experiments for Expanding Life and Boosting Well-Being.' His dedication to research that promotes student involvement, institutional contributions, and professional growth earned him the Shawnee State University Faculty Research Award in 2023. Additionally, Dr. Richards serves as a Scientific member of the university's Institutional Review Board through 2026.