Yifan Hu
Yifan (she/her) is a doctoral student in Human Development and Family Studies.
Matthew Rivas-Koehl
Matthew (he/him) is a doctoral student in Human Development and Family Studies (HDFS). He completed his Master’s degree in Human Development and Family Science with a minor in Women’s and Gender Studies at Texas Tech University in May 2021. Matthew’s main areas of research are the intersection of sexuality and relationships, and the general promotion of health and wellbeing for queer individuals across the lifespan. Some of Matthew’s recent work include projects related to sexual satisfaction among queer men, examining patterns of teen dating violence, and work related to promoting the health and wellbeing of LGBTQ youth in schools. Matthew frequently employs feminist and queer theories in his work to interrogate structural oppression that marginalized individuals face. In the HEART lab, he hopes to continue work that promotes healthy romantic and social relationships for all individuals, focusing specifically on queer and other marginalized individuals. Matthew enjoys spending time running, cooking, and playing with his two dogs.
Recent citations:
Rivas-Koehl, M., Rivas-Koehl, D., & McNeil Smith, S. (2023) The temporal intersectional minority stress model: Reimagining minority stress theory. Journal of Family Theory & Review, 1–21. https://doi.org/10.1111/jftr
Rivas-Koehl, M., Valido, A., Espelage, D., & Lawrence, T. I. (2023). Adults and family as supportive of adolescent sexual development in the age of smartphones? Exploring cybersexual violence victimization, pornography use, and risky sexual behaviors. Archives of Sexual Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-023-02618-2
Rivas-Koehl, M., Dobson, K., Ogolsky, B. (2023). Sex or socialization? Replicating heterosexual couples’ gender differences in the association between orgasm and satisfaction in same-gender/sex couples. Journal of Sex Research, 60(5), 624–633. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224499.2022.2144989
Ghada El Kawas
Ghada (she/her) is a doctoral student in Human Development and Family Studies. She completed her Bachelor’s degree in Psychology with a minor in Creative Writing at The American University of Beirut in Lebanon in 2020. Ghada’s current research interests include how media consumption impacts romantic relationship beliefs, expectations, and behaviors, parasocial romantic relationships, and romantic relationships in the Arab world. She is particularly passionate about expanding romantic relationship research in the Middle East. In her free time, Ghada enjoys reading and looking at pictures of her cats.
Recent citations:
Kawas, G. & Ogolsky, B. (2023). The sociocultural context of romantic relationships. In Ogolsky, B. (Ed.), The sociocultural context of romantic relationships (pp. 1-10). Cambridge University Press.
Eva Li
Eva (she/they) is a first year doctoral student in HDFS. She graduated in December 2020 from the College of William & Mary with a B.S. in Psychology. Her research interests include couples synchrony, trust and deception in romantic relationships, attachment styles, and partners’ perceptions of contribution. Outside of the lab, Eva enjoys reading, thrifting, collecting vinyls, and walking her pet cat, Winky.