Dr. Marc Fournier

RESEARCH

Marc Fournier studies personality structure and hierarchy formation in day-to-day social interaction. He begins with the view that hierarchy formation is a natural, predictable, and consequential aspect of group living: that hierarchies often emerge spontaneously when people congregate; that each person's social position in the hierarchy is to some extent foreseeable on the basis of their traits, whether the traits of greatest relevance to group functioning are physical (e.g., attractiveness), cognitive (e.g., intelligence), or behavioral (e.g., extraversion); and that the group exerts considerable influence over how people differentially evaluate themselves and their overall worth. Dr. Fournier uses both self- and peer-reports to best understand the social positions that people hold in real-world situations (e.g., high school cliques, college dormitories), the behavioral strategies that people use to acquire and retain such positions (e.g., consensus-building), and the impact that people's social positions have on their emotional functioning (e.g., self-esteem, depression). Currently, he is examining the social-cognitive dynamics and interpersonal processes underlying the association between extraversion and social attention-holding potential.