Professor Garth Fletcher
Position
Professor
Qualifications
BA, MA, Ph.D. (University of Waikato, NZ)
Room
205
Contact Details
Phone: +64 3 364 2970 (direct)
Internal Phone: 6970
Email: garth.fletcher@canterbury.ac.nz
Postal address:
Department of Psychology
University of Canterbury
Private Bag 4800
Christchurch 8140
New Zealand
Undergraduate Courses
PSYC 332: - Social Psychology - Course Coordinator
Graduate Courses
PSYC 464: Multivariate Statistics and Methods - Course Coordinator
PSYC 465: The Science of Intimate Relationships - Course Coordinator
Thesis Supervision: (Current)
Caroline Fulton (MA): Regulation strategies in intimate relationships.
Matt Healey (Ph.D.): Effect of birth order on personality: An evolutionary psychological approach.
Patrick Kerr (MA): Speed dating: The interation between context and mate preferences.
Recently completed Ph.D.s
Alice Boyes: Meta awareness of bias in intimate relationships.
Amy Chisholm (MA): Eating disorders and partner support in intimate relationships.
Michele Wisternoff (MA): Stalking after relationship dissolution.
Myron Friesen: Evidence for a distinct forgiveness prototype: Convergent and discriminant validity.
Nickola Overall: Why do people try to change their intimate relationships?: The regulation function of ideal standards.
Phil Kavanagh (Ph.D.): Mate aspirations, mate perceptions, and rejection: The role of state self-esteem from an evolutionary perspective.
Research Interests
My research and writing projects are concerned with the social psychology of intimate relationships. More specifically, my work is concerned with the overlap between social cognition processes and intimate relationships. This work also has an evolutionary flavour, and this approach is used to theoretically inform our research. I have two ongoing research/writing projects, both concerned with the way in which lay knowledge structures (or lay theories) interact with ongoing cognitive processing to influence behaviour in intimate relationships.
• The first program of research deals with the structure and function of ideal standards in close relationships, and also regulation processes. For related publications (chapters and articles) see ‘Recent Publications'. This research is being done in collaboration with Nickola Overall at Auckland University and Jeff Simpson from Texas A & M.
• The second ongoing program of research concerns accuracy and bias in close relationships (see ‘Recent Publications').
School Administration
Member, Department Coordinating Committee
Recent Publications:
Books
Fletcher, G.J.O. (2002). The new science of
|
Fletcher, G.J.O., and Fitness, J. (Eds.).  (1996). Knowledge
structures in close relationships: A social psychological approach. Mahwah,
NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum. |
Fletcher, G.J.O., and Clark, M.S. (Eds). (2 001). Blackwell
handbook of social psychology: Interpersonal processes. Blackwell. |
Fletcher, G.J.O. (1995). The scientific  credibility of
folk psychology. Mahway, N.J.: Lawrence Erlbaum. |
intimate relationships. Blackwell. Extracts from Reviews of "The new science of intimate relationships"
"With impeccable scholarship, sharp wit, and a beautiful writing style, Garth Fletcher showcases the new science of intimate relationships."
- Professor Jeffry Simpson, (Texas AandM, Editorial Review)
"This is an important, fascinating, and delightful book."
- Professor Roy Baumeister, (Case Western Reserve, Editorial Review)
"A much needed interdisciplinary integration of the diverse fields that study intimate relationships….scholarly, fiercely intelligent, and even-handed."
- Professor Letitia Anne Peplau, (UCLA, Editorial Review).
"Fletcher succeeds brilliantly at reaching just the right balance of rigorous scholarship and great storytelling….a delightful and important book."
- Associate Professor Nancy Collins, (UCSB, Relationship Research News)
"A superb book….engagingly written, insightful, richly detailed, and admirably comprehensive. It is a joy to read."
- Professor Randolph Cornelius, (Choice)
"…integrates evolutionary and social psychological approaches to offer a fascinating and comprehensive picture of how the intimate relationship mind works."
- Professor Mark Leary, (Human Nature Review)
"...erudite, scholarly, and accessible. "The New Science of Intimate Relationships" is a provocative and challenging framework for social scientists and lay-persons."
- Dr Edith Fraser, (Psychiatric Services)
"In this engaging book he (Fletcher) displays remarkable scholarly
breadth, a sharp wit, and a fearless willingness to take sides. As a
result, the book is likeable and winning throughout."
- Professor Dan Perlman and Professor Rowland Miller, (Contemporary
Psychology)
Recent Publications (since 2003)
Fletcher, G.J.O. (in press). Through the eyes of love: Reality and illusion in intimate relationships In J. Forgas & J. Fitness (Eds). Social relationships: Cognitive, affective and motivational processes. Cambridge University Press.
Fletcher, G.J.O. (in press). Ideals about relationships. In (Eds.). H.T. Reiss & S.K. Sprecher. Encyclopedia of Social Psychology (pp. 141-148).Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
Fletcher, G.J.O., and Overall, N.C. (in press) . The self in intimate relationships. In J. Forgas, M. Haselton, and W.V. Hippel (Eds). The evolution of the social mind: Evolutionary psychology and social cognition. Cambridge University Press.
Overall, N.C., Fletcher, G.J.O., & Simpson, J.A. ( in press ). Regulating partners in intimate relationships: The costs and benefits of different communication strategies. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
Tran, S., Simpson, J.A., & Fletcher, G.J.O. (in press) . The role of ideal standards in relationship initiation processes. In S. Sprecher , A. Wenzel, & J. Harvey (Eds.), The Handbook of Relationship Initiation. Hillsdale, N.J.: Erlbaum.
Crespo, C., Davide, I.N., Costa, M.E., & Fletcher, G.J.O. (2008). Family Rituals in Married Couples: Links with Attachment, Relationship Quality and Closeness. Personal Relationships.
Boyes, A.D., & Fletcher, G.J.O. (2007). Meta-awareness of bias in intimate relationships. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 92, 286-306.
Boyes, A.D., Fletcher, G.J.O., & Latner, J. D. ( 2007). Risk Factors for Eating Disorders: The Role of Intimate Relationships. Journal of Family Psychology, 21, 764-768.
Fletcher, G.J.O. (2007) . Close relationships. In Vohs, K.D. & Baumeister, R. F. (Eds.) Encyclopedia of Social Psychology (pp. 141-148). London: Sage.
Fletcher, G.J.O. & Overall N.C. (2007). The self in intimate relationships: A social evolutionary account. In J. Forgas, M. Haselton, & W.V. Hippel (Eds.) The evolution of the social mind: Evolutionary psychology and social cognition (pp 195-209). Cambridge University Press.
Friesen, M.D., & Fletcher, G.J.O. (2007) . Evidence for a distinct forgiveness prototype: Convergent and discriminant validity. Personal Relationships, 14, 209-223.
Fletcher, G.J.O., Overall, N., & Friesen, M. (2006). Social cognition in intimate relationships. In A. Vangelisti & D. Perlman (Eds.). The Cambridge handbook of personal relationships (pp. 353-368). New York: Cambridge Press.
Fletcher G.J.O., Simpson, J.A., & Boyes, A. (2006). Bias, Accuracy, and the Intimate Relationship Mind: An Evolutionary and Social Psychological Analysis. In M. Schaller, D. Kenrick, & J.A. Simpson (Eds). Evolution and social psychology (pp. 189-210). New York: Sage.
Overall, N.C., Fletcher, G.J.O., & Simpson, J.A. (2006). Regulation processes in intimate relationships: The role of ideal standards. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 91, 662-685.
Friesen, M.D. , Fletcher, G.J.O., & Overall, N.C. (2005). A dyadic assessment of forgiveness in Intimate relationships. Personal Relationships, 12, 61-77.
Fletcher, G.J.O., & Simpson, J. (2004). Ideal standards in close relationships. Republished in J. B. Ruscher & E. Y. Hammer (Eds.). Current Directions in social psychology (pp. 69), NJ. USA: Prentice Hall.
Fletcher, G.J.O., Tither, J.M., O'Loughlin, C., Friesen, M. & Overall, N. (2004). Warm and homely or cold and beautiful? Sex Differences in Trading off Traits in Mate Selection. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 30, 659-672.
Fitness, J. , Fletcher, G.J.O., & Overall, N. (2003). Interpersonal Attraction and Intimate Relationships. In M. Hogg & J. Cooper (Eds.). Sage handbook of social psychology (pp. 258-276). London: Sage.
Fletcher, G.J.O., & Stenswick, M.. (2003). The intimate relationship mind . In Macquarie monographs in cognitive science (pp. 71-94). Hove: Psychology Press.
Jeffries, S., Fletcher, G.J.O., & Newbold, G. (2003). Pathways to sex-based differentiation in criminal court sentencing. Criminology, 41, 329-353.
Overall, N. C., Fletcher G.J.O., & Friesen, M. (2003). Mapping the intimate relationship mind: Comparisons between three models of attachment representations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 29, 1479-1493.
Thomas, G., & Fletcher, G.J.O. (2003). Mind-reading accuracy in intimate relationships: Assessing the roles of the relationship, the target, and the judge. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 1079-1094.