Dr. Maureen E. O’Brien

Dr. Maureen O’Brien (Chair), Associate Professor, is a native of Memphis. Technically, she grew up in Southaven, MS, but most folks don’t know where that is, so she’s learned to take the easy route and claim to be from Memphis. She grew up with three older brothers, and at age 9 they were joined by a younger brother. “Being the only girl in a family of five kids had its ups and downs. My brothers are now much more mature, and we get along great.” She received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from The University of North Carolina at Greensboro, and her M.S. in General Psychology from The University of Memphis, and a B.A. in Psychology from CBU. “My most exciting job (before being hired by CBU, of course) was being a tour guide at Graceland in high school. I have noticed a negative correlation between interest level and distance from Memphis. That is, the further away from Memphis one lives the more interested one is in discovering I was a tour guide at Graceland.” Her research interests include prejudice, stereotyping, and discrimination, attitude change and persuasion, and resistance to persuasion. In her spare time, she enjoys live music, playing guitar, cooking, and being entertained by her super cute pets. “I also enjoy traveling, which provides me the added bonus of testing my belief in the earlier mentioned correlation!”