Graduate Student Behavioral and Brain Sciences Program Christina Leckfor is a third-year Social Psychology graduate student in the Behavior and Brain Sciences program where she examines the factors that facilitate and interfere with social connection. Christina is also dedicated to being an impactful teacher and mentor, as demonstrated by her acceptance into UGA's Future Faculty Fellows program and her receiving the Richard L. Marsh Mentoring Award from the Department of Psychology. Education Education: M.S., Social Psychology, University of Pittsburgh B.A., Psychology, Youngstown State University Research Research Interests: Christina's research aims to understand the factors that facilitate and interfere with social connection. She is especially interested in how social technologies can be used to foster and maintain relationships through deep meaningful conversations (e.g., over video chat and texting), while also impeding social connection by making it easier to displace minimal social interactions with strangers and end existing relationships (e.g., through ghosting). Selected Publications Selected Publications: (* indicates shared first authorship) Wood, N. R., Leckfor, C. M., Wicks, S. G., & Hales, A. H. (accepted, under open review). Ghosting from the workplace: The impact of feedback (or lack thereof) on applicants’ psychological needs satisfaction. Routledge Open Research. https://doi.org/10.12688/routledgeopenres.17725.1 *Leckfor, C. M., *Wood, N. R., Slatcher, R. B., & Hales, A. H. (in press). From close to ghost: Examining the relationship between the need for closure, intentions to ghost, and reactions to being ghosted. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075221149955 Juergensen, J., & Leckfor, C. (2019). Stop pushing me away: Facebook addiction relates to automatic approach motivation for Facebook stimuli. Psychological Reports, 122(6), 2012-2025. https://doi.org/10.1177/0033294118798624 Other Information Of note: Christina's research on ghosting has received coverage in the following media outlets: “What science knows about ghosting: It’s worse than direct rejection” by Karelia Vázquex. (2023, March 7). El País (Spanish and English versions) “There's a weird link between people who seek closure and those who ghost” by Dayna McAlpine. (2023, February 14). HuffPost “People who ‘ghost’ actually have a stronger need for closure. Wait, what?” by Faima Baker. (2023, February 20). Metro “People with a high need for closure are more likely to ghost, yet also feel more distressed when they are ghosted” by Eric. W. Dolan (2023, February 19). PsyPost “Love in 2023: Ghosting ‘new normal’ for ending relationships, research shows” by John Anderer. (2023, February 14). StudyFinds “The relationship between ghosting and closure” by Erica Techo. (2023, February 13). UGA Today
