My research examines various ways that identity and emotion link social structure with individual social action. In much of my work, I import critical interactionist insights into more formal models of group process. Through this research I hope to understand the way that more macro-level social structures are reproduced – and altered – during face-to-face interaction.

Fundamentally, I am interested in the way that individuals create and maintain social identities during interaction. Much of my research involves tests and elaborations of affect control theory. More recently, I have also been developing new techniques for measuring emotion in temporally sensitive, non-reactive, and socially non-intrusive ways.