Faculty and Staff Profile

Robin Kowalski

Educational Background

Ph.D. Social Psychology
UNC-Greensboro 1990

M.A. Psychology
Wake Forest 1987

B. A. Psychology
Furman University 1985

Courses Taught

Introduction to Psychology
Women and Psychology
Advanced Experimental Design
Health Psychology
Social Psychology
Pursuit of Happiness

Profile

Dr. Robin Kowalski is a Centennial professor of psychology at Clemson University. She obtained her Ph.D. in social psychology from the University of North Carolina at Greensboro. Her research interests focus primarily on aversive interpersonal behaviors, most notably complaining, teasing and bullying, with a particular focus on cyber bullying. She is the author or co-author of several books including Complaining, Teasing, and Other Annoying Behaviors, Social Anxiety, Aversive Interpersonal Behaviors, Behaving Badly, The Social Psychology of Emotional and Behavioral Problems, Cyber Bullying: Bullying in the Digital Age. Her research on complaining brought her international attention, including an appearance on NBC’s “Today Show.” Dr. Kowalski has received several awards including Clemson University’s Award of Distinction, Clemson University’s College of Business and Behavioral Science Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, the Phil Prince Award for Excellence and Innovation in the Classroom, Clemson University’s College of Business and Behavioral Science Senior Research Award, and the Clemson Board of Trustees Award for Faculty Excellence. She was also recently named by Princeton Review as one of the best 300 professors in the nation, and was selected as a finalist for the 2013 and 2014 South Carolina Governor’s Professor of the Year Awards.

Research Interests

My research interests focus primarily on aversive interpersonal behaviors, most notably complaining, teasing and bullying, with a particular focus on cyberbullying. I also conduct research on psychological mattering and its relationship to suicide and school shootings.

Research Publications

Articles



Kowalski, R. M., & Fedina, C. (2011). Cyber bullying in ADHD and Asperger Syndrome populations. Research in Autism Spectrum Disorders, 5, 1202-1208.

Agatston, P. W., Kowalski, R. M., & Limber, S. E. (2011). Youth perspectives on cyber bullying. In J. Patchin & S. Hinduja (Eds.), Cyber bullying. New York: Routledge.

Kowalski, R. M., Giumetti, G. W., Schroeder, A. W., & Reese, H. H. (2012). Cyber bullying among college students: Evidence domains of college life. In C. Wankel & L. Wankel (Eds.), Misbehavior online in higher education (pp. 293-321). Bingley, UK: Emerald Publishing Group.

Giumetti, G. W., McKibben, E. S., Hatfield, A. L., Schroeder, A. N., & Kowalski, R. M. (2012). Cyber incivility @ work: The new age of interpersonal deviance. Cyberpsychology, Behavior, and Social Networking, 15, 148-154. doi:10.1089/cyber.2011.0336

Kowalski, R. M., Morgan, C., & Limber, S. (2012). Traditional bullying as a potential warning sign of cyberbullying. School Psychology International, 33(5), 505-519.

Kowalski, R. M., Schroeder, A. N., & Smith, C. A. (2013). Bystanders and their willingness to intervene in cyberbullying situations. In R. Hanewald (Ed.), From cyberbullying to cyber safety: Issues and approaches in educational contexts. Sydney: Nova Publishers.

Skinner, J. A., & Kowalski, R. M. (2013). Profiles of sibling bullying. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 28, 1726-1736. doi: 10.1177/0886260512468327.

Kowalski, R. M., & Limber, S. (2013). Psychological, physical, and academic correlates of cyberbullying and traditional bullying. Journal of Adolescent Health, 53, S13-S20. doi:10.1016/j.jadohealth.2012.09.018

Giumetti, G. W., Hatfield, A. L., Scisco, J. L., Schroeder, A. N., Muth, E. R., & Kowalski, R. M. (2013). What a rude e-mail! Examining the differential effects of incivility versus support on mood, energy, engagement, and performance in an online context. Journal of Occupational Health Psychology, 18(3), 297-309. doi:10.1037/a0032851

Kowalski, R. M. (2013). Definition and effects of cyberbullying. In M. Eastin (Ed.), Encyclopedia of media violence. New York: Sage.

Kowalski, R. M., & Giumetti, G. (2014, April). Wall Posts and Tweets and Blogs, Oh my! A look at cyber bullying via social media. In C. Marcum & G. Higgins (Eds.), Social networking as a criminal enterprise. New York: CRC Press.

Kowalski, R. M., Giumetti, G., Schroeder, A., & Lattanner, M. (2014). Bullying in the digital age: A critical review and meta-analysis of cyberbullying research among youth. Psychological Bulletin, 140, 1073-1137. doi:10.1037/a0035618

Kowalski, R. M., Baker, B., Giumetti, G., Turner, J., Whittaker, E., Frazee, L., & Stephens, J. (2014). Pet peeves and happiness: How do happy people complain? Journal of Social Psychology, 154, 1-5.

Limber, S., Kowalski, R. M., & Agatston, P. (2014). Cyberbullying. In D. Gentile (Ed.), Media violence and children: A complete guide for parents and professionals (2nd ed., pp. 289-318). New York:Praeger.

Whittaker, E., & Kowalski, R. M. (2014). Cyberbullying via social media. Journal of School Violence. doi.10.1080/15388220.2014.949377.

Kowalski, R. M., Morgan, C. A., Whittaker, E., Zaremba, B., Frazee, L., & Dean, J. (2014). Will they or won’t they?: Secret telling in interpersonal interaction. Journal of Social Psychology. DOI: 10.1080/00224545.2014.972309
Kowalski, R. M. (2014). Cyber personas research task. White paper commissioned by and submitted to the United States Army, Fort Hood, Texas.

Kowalski, R. M., & Whittaker, E. (2015). Cyberbullying: Prevalence, causes, and consequences. In L. D. Rosen, L. M. Carrier, & N. A. Cheever (Eds.), The handbook of psychology, technology, and society. Hoboken, NJ: Wiley-Blackwell.
Whittaker, E. B., & Kowalski, R. M. (2015). Cyberbullying. International Encyclopedia of Social and Behavioral Sciences (2nd. ed.). New York: Elsevier.

Bradley, B. E., Dean, J., & Kowalski, R. M. (2015). Hidden trauma, Quiet drama: The prominence and consequence of problematic grieving among college students. Journal of College Student Development, 56, 280-285.

Kowalski, R. M., Morgan, C., Drake-Lavelle, K., & Allison, B. (2016). Cyberbullying among college students with disabilities. Computers in Human Behavior, 57, 416-427. doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2015.12.044.

Giumetti, G. W., & Kowalski, R. M. (2016). Cyberbullying matters: Examining the incremental impact of cyberbullying on outcomes above and beyond traditional bullying in North America. In R. Navarro, S. Yubero, & E. Larranga (Eds.), Cyberbullying across the globe: Gender, family, and mental health (pp. 117-130). New York: Springer.

Toth, A., Kowalski, R. M., & Webb, M. (2016). Bullying among boys with disabilities. Psychology and Education Journal, 53, 34-39.

Kowalski, R. M. (2016). Cyberbullying: Who does what to whom and with what effect? Psychology and Education Journal, 53, 112-117.

Kowalski, R. M., & Giumetti, G. W. (2017). Bullying in the digital age. In E. Martellozzo & E. Jane (Eds.), Cybercrime and its victims. New York: Routledge.
Vishwamitra, N., Zhang, X., Tong, J., Hu, H., Luo, F., Kowalski, R., & Mazer, J. (2017). MCDefender:
Toward effective cyberbullying defense in mobile online social networks. Conference Proceedings,
Association for Computing Machinery. doi:http://dx.doi.org/10.1145/3041008.3041013

Kowalski, R. M., & Toth, A. (2018). Cyberbullying among youth with and without disabilities. Journal of Child and Adolescent Trauma, 11, 7-15. doi: 10.1007/s40653-017-0139-y

Kowalski, R. M., Toth, A., & Morgan, M. (2017). Bullying and cyberbullying in adulthood and
the workplace. Journal of Social Psychology. doi:10.1080/00224545.2017.1302402

Kowalski, R. M., Giumetti, G., & Limber, S. E. (2017). Bullying and cyberbullying among rural youth. In K. Michael & J. P. Jameson (Eds.), Handbook of rural mental health (231-245) New York:
Springer.

Kowalski, R. M., & Morgan, M. (2017). Cyberbullying in schools. In Sturmey, P. (Ed.), The Wiley
handbook of violence and aggression: Societal interventions (Vol. 3). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley. DOI: 10.1002/9781119057574.whbva099

Englander, E., Donnerstein, E., Kowalski, R. M., Lin, C., & Parti, R. (2017). Defining cyberbullying.
Pediatrics, 140. doi: 10.1542/peds.2016-1758U

Kowalski, R. M. (2018). Cyberbullying. In J. Ireland, P. Birch, & C. A. Ireland (Eds.), The Routledge
international handbook of human aggression: Current issues and perspectives.
New York: Taylor & Francis.

Toth, A., Kowalski, R. M., & Webb, M. (2018). Bullying among boys with disabilities. In C. Kowalski,
J. P. Cangemi, & A. Rokeach (Eds.), Bullying: A critical problem in education, work environments,
society.

Kowalski, R. M., & Piepert, A. (2018). Public- and self-stigma attached to physical versus psychological disabilities. Manuscript under review. Stigma and Health.

Kowalski, R. M., Limber, S., & McCord, A. (2018). A developmental approach to cyberbullying:
Prevalence and protective factors. Journal of Aggression and Violent Behavior.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.avb.2018.02.009

Kowalski, R. M., & Giumetti, G. (2019). Introduction: Cyberbullying across contexts, age groups, and
cultures. In G. Giumetti & R. Kowalski (Eds.), Cyberbullying in schools, workplaces, and
romantic relationships: The many lenses and perspectives of electronic bullying. New York:
Routledge.

Kowalski, R. M., Giumetti, G., & Cox, H. (2019). Differences in technology use among demographic
groups: Implications for cyberbullying research. In G. Giumetti & R. Kowalski (Eds.),
Cyberbullying in schools, workplaces, and romantic relationships: The many lenses and perspectives of electronic bullying. New York: Routledge.

Giumetti, G., & Kowalski, R. M. (2019). Cyberbullying in schools, workplaces, and romantic
relationships: Summary and future research. In G. Giumetti & R. Kowalski (Eds.),
Cyberbullying in schools, workplaces, and romantic relationships: The many lenses and perspectives of electronic bullying. New York: Routledge.


Kowalski, R. M., & McCord, A. (2019). If I knew then what I know now: Advice to my younger
self. Journal of Social Psychology.
https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2019.1609401

Kowalski, R. M. (2019, April 16). The art of complaining [Blog post]. Retrieved from
http://spsp.org/news-center/blog

Kowalski, R. M. (2019, August 5). Back from the future: Pearls of wisdom to our younger self.
[Blog post]. Retrieved from http://www.spsp.org/news-center/blog/kowalski-younger-self

Kowalski, R. M. (2019, October 22). What we can learn from the advice we’d give our younger
self. Scientific American. Available: https://www.scientificamerican.com/article/what-we-can-learn-from-the-advice-wed-give-our-younger-self/

Kowalski, R. M., & McCord, A. (2020). Cyberbullying. The Sage International Encyclopedia of Mass
Media and Society. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

Limber, S. P., Kowalski, R. M. (2020). How schools often make a bad situation worse. International
Journal of Child Maltreatment. https://dx.doi.10.1007/s42448-020-00045-7

Kowalski, R. M., Foster, M., Scarborough, M., Bourque, L., Wells, S., Graham, R., Bednar, H., Franchi,
M., Nash, S., & Crawford, K. (2020). Hazing, bullying, and moral disengagement.
International Journal of Bullying Prevention. https://doi.org/10.1007/s42380-020-00070-7

Kowalski, R. M., Macbeth, J., Dillon, E., Franchi, M., & Bush, M. (2020). Racial differences in
cyberbullying from the perspective of victims and perpetrators. American Journal of
Orthopsychiatry. https://dx.doi.10.1037/ort0000492

Kowalski, R. M., & McCord, A. (2020). Perspectives on cyberbullying: Same or different. In L. Green
(Ed.), The Routledge companion to digital media and children. New York: Routledge.

Kowalski, R. M., & Robbins, C. (2021). The meaning, prevalence, and outcomes of cyberbullying in
the workplace. In L. R. Salazar (Ed.), Handbook of research on cyberbullying and online
harassment in the workplace (pp. 1-27). IGI Global.

Kowalski, R. M., & Black, K. J. (2021). Protection Motivation and the COVID-19
virus. Health Communication, 36(1), 15–22.
https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2020.1847448

Kowalski, R. M., Leary, M., Hendley, T., Rubley, K., Chapman, C., Chitty, H., Carroll, H., Cook, A.,
Richardson, E., Robbins, C., Bourque, L., Oakley, R., Welsh, S., Bednar, H., Jones, R., Wells, S.,
Tolleson, K., Fisher, K., Graham, R., Scarborough, M., Longacre, M. (2021). K-12,
college/university, and mass shootings: Similarities and differences. Journal of Social
Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2021.1900047


Kowalski, R. M., Leary, M., Hendley, T., Rubley, K., Chapman, C., Chitty, H., Carroll, H., Cook, A.,
Richardson, E., Robbins, C., Bourque, L., Oakley, R., Welsh, S., Bednar, H., Jones, R., Wells, S.,
Tolleson, K., Fisher, K., Graham, R., Scarborough, M., Longacre, M. (2021). K-12,
college/university, and mass shootings: Similarities and differences. Journal of Social
Psychology, 161(6), 753-778. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2021.1900047

Giumetti, G., Kowalski, R. M., & Feinn, R. (2022). Predictors and outcomes of cyberbullying among
college students: A two wave study. Aggressive Behavior, 48(1), 40-54. https:// DOI: 10.1002/ab.21992

Kowalski, R. M., Carroll, H., & Britt, J. R. (2021). Benefit-finding in the COVID-19 crisis.
Journal of Health Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/1359105321999088

Kowalski, R. M., Deas, N., Britt, N., Richardson, E., Finnell, S., Evans, K., Carroll, H., Cook, A.,
Radovic, E., Huyck, T., Parise, I., Robbins, C., Chitty, H., & Catanzaro, S. (2022). Protection
motivation theory and intentions to receive the COVID-19 vaccine. Health Promotion Practice.
https://doi.org/10.1177/15248399211070807

Kowalski, R. M. (2022, January 25). School shootings: What we know about them and what we can do.
https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2022/01/26/school-shootings-what-we-know-about-them-and-what-we-can-do-to-prevent-them/

Sporrer, L., & Kowalski, R. M. (2022). A rock and a hard place: Why requiring corporations to
add women to boards is the best option. Southern California Interdisciplinary Law Journal,
31(1), 169-192.

Giumetti, G., & Kowalski, R. M. (2022). Cyberbullying via social media and well-being. Current
Opinion in Psychology, 45, 101314. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2022.101314

King, B. K., Sciarro, C., Kowalski, R. M. (2022). Middle-school children's perceptions of nonverbal
behaviors as sexual consent: An exploratory study. Psychology and Behavioral Science
International Journal, 18(5). https:// doi.org/10.19080/PBSIJ.2022.18.555999

Kowalski, R. M., Hurley, K., Deas, N., Finnell, S., Evans, K., Robbins, C., Cook, A., Radovic, E.,
Carroll, H., Brewer, L., & Mochizuki, G. (2022). Protection motivation theory unmasked:
Applying the Protection Motivation Theory of health to skepticism toward COVID mask and
vaccine mandates. AIMS Public Health, 9(3), 506-520.
https://doi.org/10.3934/publichealth.2022035.

Books

Kowalski, R. M., & Westen, D. (2011). Psychology (6th ed). Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Limber, R. M., Kowalski, R. M., & Agatston, P. W. (2011). Bullying 101: An online course. Center City, MN: Hazelton.

Kowalski, R. M., Limber, S., & Agatston, P. W. (2012). Cyber bullying: Bullying in the digital age (2nd ed.). Malden, MA: Wiley.

Limber, S., Kowalski, R. M., & Agatston, P. (2014). Cyber bullying: A prevention curriculum for grades 6-12 (2nd ed.) Center City, MN: Hazelton.

Limber, S., Kowalski, R. M., & Agatston, P. (2014). Cyber bullying: A prevention curriculum for grades 3-5 (2nd ed.) Center City, MN: Hazelton.

Kowalski, R. M. (2015). Psychology: PsychNotes. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.

Kowalski, R. M. (2018). Readings in psychology: From foundation to application. San Diego,
CA: Cognella.
Kowalski, R. M. (2019). Women and psychology. San Diego, CA: Cognella.
Giumetti, G., & Kowalski, R. M. (2019). Cyberbullying in schools, workplaces, and romantic
relationships: The many lenses and perspectives of electronic bullying. New York: Routledge.

Kowalski, R. M., & Gunsoy, C. (2020). Social psychology. San Diego, CA: Cognella.

Limber, S., & Kowalski, R. M. (in preparation). Peer victimization among children and youth.
New York: NYU Press.

Honors and Awards

Winner – Provost Award for Excellence in Teaching, 2021
Winner—CBSHS Award of Excellence in Undergraduate Teaching, 2020
Winner – Centennial Professor Award, 2019
Winner – Clemson Mentoring Award, 2019
Winner – Trevillian Distinguished Professor, 2015
Winner – Women’s Commission Outstanding Female Faculty Member, 2014
Winner – Bradbury Award, 2009
Winner – Clemson University Phil Prince Award for Excellence and Innovation in Teaching, 2008
University Research, Scholarship, and Artistic Achievement Award, 2018
Award for Excellence in Interdisciplinary Collaboration, 2018

Links