Meet The Team
Abigail Scholer
Batten Family Bicentennial Distinguished Leadership Professor of Public Policy and Psychology, Lab Director
Abby received her Ph.D. in social psychology from Columbia University in 2009. She recently joined the UVA faculty in Fall 2023 after 12 years at the University of Waterloo as the Canada Research Chair in Motivated Social Cognition. She is a motivation scientist and social psychologist whose research interests relate to the study of self-regulation, motivation, and social cognition, as broadly described on the lab home page. These days, she is particularly passionate about investigating what people understand about regulating motivation—metamotivation—and how this affects their overall success at goal pursuit. When she’s not working, Abby enjoys spending time with her family, traveling, reading a great novel, and coloring outside the lines.
Alec Davis
Lab Manager for Motivation Science Lab
Alec Davis is the lab manager for the Social Motivation Lab at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. He Is also the lab manager of the Culture, History, Identity, and Policy Lab. He achieved a B.S. in Psychology with certificates in Athletic Healthcare and Disability Rights & Services at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, where he also earned a varsity letter as a member of the Men’s Rowing team. Outside of research, he enjoys running, climbing, being outdoors, and spending time with friends and family.
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Phuong Q. Le
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Phuong is a postdoctoral researcher at the Frank Batten School of Leadership and Public Policy. She earned her Ph.D. and M.A. in Psychology under the mentorship of Drs. Kentaro Fujita and Lisa Libby at The Ohio State University, and B.A. in Psychology and Social Sciences Interdisciplinary (International Studies) from SUNY Buffalo. Her research examines how people motivate themselves and others to obtain valued long-term goals, largely from a social cognitive approach. In particular, she focuses on people’s impressive ability to broaden and narrow the range of concerns and possibilities that they account for in goal pursuit (i.e., modulate regulatory scope, Trope et al., 2021) and its impact on intra- and inter-personal motivational processes. Her goal is to help people live up to their goals and provide actionable recommendations for leaders and policymakers to enhance motivation and performance. Beyond research, Phuong enjoys quality time with friends and family, often over cooking good (Vietnamese) food.
Graduate Students
The following graduate students are currently members of the lab at the University of Virginia and collaborating with Dr. Scholer on various projects described below.
Hanhdung Pham
University of Virginia
Hanhdung is interested in understanding the role cognitive flexibility and emotional self-awareness play in metacognition and decision-making. She is passionate about using research to improve others' well-being and flourishing. Alongside her studies, she loves to play music, sing, muse in nature, or visit art galleries.
The following graduate students are currently affiliate members of the lab at the University of Waterloo (CA) and collaborating with Dr. Scholer on various projects described below.
Affiliated Graduate Students
Krista Quinn
University of Waterloo (CA)
Krista examines the challenge of giving effective feedback, specifically the effects of individual differences and goals of feedback providers on the amount and quality of negative feedback they deliver. Aside from research, Krista enjoys many forms of media and loves discussing her favorite books (particularly mysteries), TV shows (particularly sitcoms & mysteries), and music (all kinds).
Jessica Ross
University of Waterloo (CA)
Jessica examines people’s beliefs about motivation and whether and when they are related to outcomes like performance, goal success, and well-being. Outside of work, Jessica enjoys reading, spending time in nature, and being with friends and family (and her cats).
Candice Rubie
University of Waterloo (CA)
Candice explores how to provide more effective failure feedback using a growth mindset framework. Broadly, her research interests include children’s cognitive development and the role of metamotivation in goal pursuit. Outside of her studies, Candice enjoys reading anything she can get her hands on, listening to music, and spending time with her friends and family.
Katie Bain
University of Waterloo (CA)
Katie is interested on how and why people provide helpful social support, in particular examining how support providers’ underlying motivations to help others feel better in the moment may lead them to undervalue the importance of validation. Outside of her studies, she enjoys spending time with her friends, listening to music, and watching sitcoms.
Lab Alumni
Kassandra Cortes - Statistics Canada
Abdo Elnakouri - Northwestern University
Candice Hubley - Government of Nova Scotia
Jeffrey Hughes - Employment and Social Development Canada
Erik Jansen - Impact Canada Fellow
David Kille - Instagram
Jane Klinger - Corona Insights
Franki Kung - Purdue University
Jhotisha Mugon - University of Victoria
Andriy Struk - Quantitative Trader in partnership with Alex Struk
Amanda Wudarzewski - Avidbots Corporation