Nearly a century of theory has noted that past relationships tend to re-emerge in new relationships. More recently, empirical evidence has shown that prior relationships can and do play out in present ones, often automatically and without awareness that it is happening. The goal of my research is to use methods from experimental social psychology to advance our understanding of the psychological processes that lead to the perpetuation of the past in the present, and importantly, how one may prevent this process when such influence may be troublesome or inappropriate.
My work is rooted in the Freudian concept of transference, but I and my colleagues re-conceptualize it in social-cognitive terms as an everyday meaning-making process. I have explored how transference processes serve epistemological functions, i.e., to perpetuate meaning systems (worldviews) that individuals have created within their significant relationships and serving to alleviate basic existential and relational needs. Indeed, individuals seek to create shared realities within close relationships and may seek to perpetuate these realities with new persons.