Randy McCarthy

Research Interests

I have two main programs of research.  

First, I study “every day” prosocial behaviors such as giving and receiving apologies, sharing compliments, offering social support, etc. These behaviors are important for understanding how people manage their social interactions so they can be happier and more socially connected.  

Second, I study the way people explain social interactions. A strong focus of this research has been on the way people make sense of interpersonal transgressions and how this sense-making process is related to feelings of regret and desires for apologies.  

Learn more about my research by going to my Google scholar profile.

Representative Publications

McCarthy, R. J. and Wilson, J. P. (2023). . Collabra: Psychology, 9(1), 84918.
McCarthy, R. J. (in press). Aggressive Behavior.
McCarthy, R. J. and Wilson, J. P. (in press). . The Journal of Social Psychology.
McCarthy, R. J., Jensen, A. P., Wilson, J. P. and Rivers, A. K. (2022). . Psychological reports, 00332941221123781.
Milner, J. S., Crouch, J. L., McCarthy, R. J., Ammar, J., Dominguez-Martinez, R., Thomas, C. L. and Jensen, A. P. (2022). . Aggression and Violent Behavior, 101778.
McCarthy, R. J., Rivers, A. K., Jensen, A. P., Pawirosetiko, J. S. and Erickson, J. M. (2022). Is the victim-perpetrator asymmetry stronger in situations where blame is being assigned?. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 101, 104333.
McCarthy, R. J., Erickson, J. M., Hu, X., Pawirosetiko, J. S., Tarleton, H. L., Thomas, C. L., Tillery, M. G. and Sagarin, B. J. (2021). . Archives of Sexual Behavior, 50, 773-777.
- McCarthy, R.J. (2020).
McCarthy, R. J. and Rivers, A. K. (2021). ? Psychological Reports.
McCarthy, R. J., Gervais, W., Aczel, B., Al-Kire, R. L., Baraldo S. M., Baruh L., Basch, C., Baumert, A., Behler, A., Bettencourt, A., Bitar, A., Bouxom, H., Buck, A., Cemalcilar, Z., Chekroun, P., Chen, J. M., del Fresno- Díaz, A., Ducham, A, Edlund, J. E.,…Zogmaister, C. (2021). A multi-site collaborative study of the hostile priming effect. Collabra: Psychology, 7, 18738. doi: 10.1525/collabra.18738
McCarthy, R. J., Skowronski, J. J., Verschuere, B., Meijer, E. H., Jim, A., Hoogesteyn, K., Orthey, R., …. Yildiz, E. (2018). . Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 1(3), 321-336.
McCarthy, R., et al. (2018). An Investigation of Abstract Construal on Impression Formation: A Multi-Lab Replication of Mccarthy and Skowronski (2011). International Review of Social Psychology, 15, 1-6. doi:10.5334/irsp.133
McCarthy, R. J. (2017). Comprehensive Results in Social Psychology, 2, 216-227,
McCarthy, R. J. and Elson, M. (2017). Collabra: Psychology, 4(1), 1–12, doi:10.1525/collabra.104
McCarthy, R. J. and Chartier, C. R. (2017). Collections²: Using “Crowdsourcing” within Psychological Research. Collabra: Psychology, 3(1), 1-6, doi:10.1525/collabra.107
McCarthy, R. J. (2017). Experiencing Instigations and Trait Aggression Contribute to Harsh Parenting Behaviors. Psychological Reports, 120, 1078-1095. doi:10.1177/0033294117711934
McCarthy, R. J., Skowronski, J. J., Crouch, J. L. and Milner, J. S. (2017). Parents’ spontaneous evaluations of children and symbolic harmful behaviors toward their child. Child Abuse & Neglect, 67, 419-428. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.02.005
McCarthy, R. J., Miron, L. R., Milner, J. S., Coley, S. L., Ormsby, L. and Oliver, M. (2016). When does child maltreatment occur? Daily variations in child maltreatment among families served by the United States Air Force Family Advocacy Program. Military Behavioral Health, 364-372. doi:10.1080/21635781.1181586
McCarthy, R. J., Wagner, M. F., Basham, A. and Jones, C. (2016). Individual Differences in Parents’ Impressions of Children and Child Physical Abuse: A Meta-Analysis. Psychology of Violence, 6, 485-496. doi:10.1037/vio0000028
Coley, S. L., McCarthy, R. J., Milner, J. S., Ormsby, L. and Travis, W. J. (2016). Intimate partner maltreatment recidivism in United States Air Force Families. Military Medicine, 181, 926-930. doi:10.7205/MILMED-D-15-00333
Zengel, B., McCarthy, R. J., Skowronski, J. J. and Ambler, J. (2016). Spontaneous trait inference and spontaneous trait transference are both unaffected by prior evaluations of informants. The Journal of Social Psychology, 157, 382-387. doi:10.1080/00224545.2016.1192099
McCarthy, R. J., Coley, S. C., Wagner, M. F., Zengel, B. and Basham, A. (2016). Does playing video games with violent content temporarily increase aggressive inclinations? A pre-registered experimental study. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 67, 13-19. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2015.10.009
McCarthy, R. J., Crouch, J. L., Basham, A., Milner, J. S. and Skowronski, J. J. (2016). .
McCarthy, R. J. (2014). . Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 54, 165-169.
McCarthy, R. J., Crouch, J. L., Skowronski, J. J., Milner, J. S., Hiraoka, R., Rutledge, E. and Jenkins, J. (2013). Child physical abuse risk moderates spontaneously inferred traits from ambiguous child behaviors. Child Abuse & Neglect, 37, 1142-1151. doi:10.1016/j.chiabu.2013.05.003
Crawford, M. T., McCarthy, R. J., Kjaerstad, H. L. and Skowronski, J. J. (2013). Inferences are for doing: The impact of approach and avoidance states on the generation of spontaneous trait inferences. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 39, 267-278. doi:10.1177/0146167212473158
McCarthy, R. J. and Skowronski, J. J. (2011). Level of construal affects the impact of central traits on impression formation. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 1304-1307. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2011.05.017
McCarthy, R. J. and Skowronski, J. J. (2011). The interplay of controlled and automatic processes in the expression of spontaneously inferred traits: A PDP analysis. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 100, 229-240. doi:10.1037/a0021991
McCarthy, R. J. and Skowronski, J. J. (2011). What will Phil do next? The influence of spontaneous trait inferences on behavior predictions. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 47, 321-332. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2010.10.015