People

Current Lab Members

Dr. Brett Jakubiak is the director of the lab and an Associate Professor of Psychology at Syracuse University. He earned a PhD in Social/Personality/Health Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University. Brett studies the links between social support processes and personal and relationship well-being in adult close relationships. 

Brett also teaches graduate and undergraduate courses at Syracuse University (e.g., Social Psychology, Close Relationships). He recently co-wrote a textbook entitled The Science of Romantic Relationships with Dr. Theresa DiDonato of Loyola University Maryland.

After work, Brett and his family enjoy spending time in and around Syracuse.

Elina Sun is a 3rd year graduate student in the Social Psychology program at Syracuse University. Her research focuses on people’s psychological and behavioral differences in close relationships, mainly from the perspective of attachment theory. Specifically, her current interests include responsiveness, capitalization, and traditional social support.

Elina has earned degrees from an undergraduate program (East China Normal University) that stressed neuroscience and a Master’s program (Beijing Normal University) focused on clinical and counseling psychology. Elina is interested in a wide range of topics in psychology. In her spare time, she enjoys reading fiction and watching movies the most. You can reach Elina at rsun12@syr.edu. 

Jason Mitala is a 1st year graduate student in the Social Psychology program at Syracuse University. 

We also have a team of approximately 15 excellent undergraduate research assistants who work with our lab and Dr. Laura Machia’s close relationships lab. If you are interested in joining our team, submit an application!

Former Lab Members

Julian Fuentes earned his PhD in Social Psychology in May 2023. Julian’s research focuses on the role of attachment (in)security in shaping reactions to social support in close relationships.