Explaining My Research to Dr. Elizabeth Kneeland and Peers at the SAS Conference
Author: Bentley Bennett | Major: Psychology | Semester: Spring 2025
Springing into Growth: My Final Semester Researching OCD, Emotion Controllability Beliefs, and Therapy Experiences
This past semester, Spring 2025, has been the most exciting and rewarding one yet in my research journey. My name is Bentley Bennett, and I am a Psychology graduate from the Fulbright College of Arts and Sciences, with minors in Human Development and Family Sciences, Child Services, Gender Studies, and Medical Humanities. Under the incredible mentorship of Dr. Jennifer Veilleux in the Department of Psychological Sciences, I’ve spent the past year and a half diving deep into a research project I became very passionate about.
Our research explores how obsessive-compulsive symptoms (OCS) relate to people’s beliefs about how controllable overall emotions and the different components (physiology, expression, thoughts, and action urges) of emotion are. We also examine how people’s therapy experiences (or lack thereof) relate to both OCS and beliefs about emotional controllability. These connections are important for understanding how people experience mental health challenges like OCD and how therapy might influence or interact with their beliefs about emotions.
When the Fall 2024 semester ended, we had around 200 participants for our second study. We continued data collection into the beginning of this semester and ended up with a final sample of 440 participants after exclusions! From there, we focused heavily on analyzing the data, and I finished writing my thesis! After a year and a half of hard work, I officially defended my thesis and earned a score of 8.25 out of 9. On May 9th, I graduated magna cum laude, a moment that felt surreal after all the effort I poured into this project.
One of the biggest highlights of the semester was traveling to Portland, Oregon to present a poster on my thesis research at the Society for Affective Science Conference. This was an incredible opportunity not only to showcase my work, but to learn from and connect with others in the field. Presenting my research in a formal setting was both challenging and rewarding, and it was a great trial run for my thesis defense. I had to explain my project clearly and concisely, respond to questions on the spot, and think about my findings in new and deeper ways.
A lot of people who stopped by my poster offered encouraging feedback, and I had great conversations that helped me see new directions for future research. One person asked about exploring different types of therapy and how they might relate to emotion beliefs, which was interesting because we asked a question to participants about what types of therapy they experienced. It allowed me to think about how future research could build from the work done for my thesis! I also had the amazing chance to meet Dr. James J. Gross from Stanford and Dr. Elizabeth Kneeland, both of whom I had cited in my thesis. It was surreal to meet researchers whose work I’ve studied throughout this process.
Since defending my thesis, I’ve continued working with Dr. Veilleux to prepare the project for publication! I am also currently in the clinical mental health counseling master’s program at Harding University. Looking back, this semester has been full of growth academically, professionally, and personally. The work has been intense, but it’s also been meaningful and motivating every step of the way. If a student is considering doing research or presenting at a conference, I couldn’t recommend it enough. Conferences like SAS not only sharpen your ideas but also connect you with a passionate community that inspires you to keep going, keep growing, and keep learning.