Rhonda Swickert

Professor of Psychology and director of the Mindfulness Initiative and the Peace Initiative

Education 

Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology: Personality and Social Psychology, University of Oklahoma

B.S. in Psychology, Emporia State University

Research Interests

Dr. Swickert has published extensively on the topic of stress, coping, and well-being, and she is particularly interested in how factors within the individual promote resilience in the face of difficult life circumstances.  Some of her most recent publications have examined how tendencies toward forgiveness and empathic responding can facilitate psychological growth following a traumatic event. Additionally, her work in the area of mindfulness has shown that it plays an important role in the influence of gratitude, perceived social support, and mood.

Courses Taught

  • PSYC 222: Psychology of Personality
  • PSYC 223: Social Psychology
  • PSYC 335: Positive Psychology: Optimizing Psychological Well-Being
  • PSYC 435: Advanced Topics in Positive Psychology
  • PSYC 461: Advanced Personality Psychology with lab
  • PSYC 462: Advanced Social Psychology with Lab

Selected Publications

Swickert, R, (in press).  The grateful hero.  In G. Goethals, J. Beggan, & S. Allison (Eds.), Encyclopedia of Heroism Studies.  New York:  Springer Publishing.

Hittner, J. B., Swickert, R. & Kövi, S. (2023).  Measurement invariance of the Five Facet Mindfulness Questionnaire in the United States and Hungary. North American Journal of Psychology, 25(2), 197-208.

Swickert, R. (2021).  The role of gratitude and mindfulness in creating a happier and more productive workplace.  In J. Marques (Ed.), The Routledge Companion Happiness at Work.  Philadelphia, PA: Routledge Press.

Swickert, R., Bailey, E.*, Hittner, J., Spector, A.*, Anderson, K., Silver, N., Benson-Townsend, B. (2019). The mediational roles of gratitude and perceived support in explaining the relationship between mindfulness and mood.  Journal of Happiness Studies, 20, 815-828.

Roberston, S., & Swickert, R. (2018). The stories we tell: How age, gender and forgiveness affect the emotional content of autobiographical narratives.  Aging and Mental Health, 22(4), 535-543.

Swickert, R., Robertson, S., & Baird, D.* (2016). Age moderates the mediational role of empathy in the association between gender and forgiveness.  Current Psychology, 35 (3), 354-360.

Robertson, S., Swickert, R., Connelly, K.*, & Galizio, A.* (2015).  Physiological reactivity during autobiographical narratives in older adults: The roles of depression and anxiety.  Aging and Mental Health, 19, 698-697. 

Swickert, R., & Abushanab, B.*, Bise, H.*, & Szer, R.* (2014). Conscientiousness moderates the influence of a help-eliciting prime on prosocial behavior.  Psychology, 5, 1954-1961.

Swickert, R., Hittner, J., & Foster, A.* (2012).  A proposed mediated path between gender and posttraumatic growth: The roles of empathy and social support in a mixed-age sample.  Psychology, 3, 1142-1147.

Swickert, R. J., Hittner, J. B., & Foster, A.* (2010).  Big Five traits interact to predict perceived social support.  Personality and Individual Differences, 48, 736-741.

(* asterisk denotes undergraduate student author)