Standing next to my poster after giving my Spotlight Presenter talk on stage

Author: Caroline Dina | Major: Psychology | Semester: Fall 2023

My name is Caroline Dina, and I am a junior psychology major and statistics minor in the honors college here at the University of Arkansas. My research examined how self-criticism interacted with a number of self-efficacy variables, including perceived willpower self-efficacy, distress tolerance self-efficacy, and emotion regulation self-efficacy. Considering the role that self-criticism plays in a variety of psychological disorders, findings from this research can push clinicians to consider the benefits of just-in-time interventions for self-criticism. In addition, this research looks at self-criticism as a state measure, allowing researchers room for further investigation of this type of measure.

In early March, I had the opportunity to attend the Society for Affective Science’s annual conference in New Orleans, Louisiana. This psychology conference brings together researchers and clinicians from across the globe to present their findings and generate conversations about upcoming research. Attending this conference allowed me to grow in several ways. To participate in the conference, I had to submit in abstract in November that gave a brief overview of my research. Once accepted, I had to put together a poster that further explored the links I mentioned in the abstract and convey these with charts and tables. Creating this poster required advanced knowledge of R programming and a clear conception of various statistical constructs. As I was finishing up the poster, I prepared my presentation of the research, ensuring that I could clearly tie existing research into my findings. This year, the conference notified me that I was selected as a Spotlight Poster Presented because of the novelty of my research, so I had to prepare brief overview of my research to give on stage during the conference. Considering this presentation would be in front of established clinicians and researchers that have inspired my research career, I was incredibly nervous to do this. However, I am thrilled to say that the presentation went great!

Attending the actual conference was an amazing experience. I was not scheduled to present my poster until the final night of the conference, so the first two days were full of attending talks and meeting researchers. Throughout the weekend, I had the opportunity to attend several talks and presentations about various types of research. It is always interesting to see what other researchers have been studying over the past year. Seeing their findings allows me to identify gaps in the existing research and room for the field to expand. In addition, I learned a lot from hearing how other researchers test various psychological constructs in their studies. This was especially helpful this year, considering I am in the process of designing my honor’s thesis project.

If you have the opportunity to attend a conference, my biggest piece of advice would be to say yes to everything. Go to every talk that you can and introduce yourself to the researchers who have inspired you. Conferences are only as helpful as you make them, so throwing yourself into them will bode the best results. Additionally, do not be afraid to ask questions. Before attending my first conference, I was nervous that I would say the wrong thing. It is okay to admit that you do not fully understand a concept or field of research. Conferences often have the field’s leaders in research in attendance, so there is no one better to ask your questions to than them. This attitude has helped me make the most out of all of the conference that I attend.

Overall, this experience allowed me to learn not only as a student, but as a budding researcher. I felt constantly intrugued and inspired by the individuals around me. Their research pushed me to think differently about my own research and pushed me to consider new aspects that I had not initially accounted for. I am incredibly grateful to the University of Arkansas Honors college for helping fund this opportunity and make opportunities like these possible.