Arie W. Kruglanski
CURRENT TEAM
Arie W. Kruglanski
Director of the Motivated Cognition Lab
Molly Ellenberg
Molly Ellenberg earned a B.S. in Psychology with a Specialization in Clinical Psychology from UC San Diego and an M.A. in Forensic Psychology from the George Washington University. Her research focuses primarily on violent extremism, uncertainty, and significance. In addition to her studies at UMD and work in the Motivated Cognition Lab, Molly is also a research fellow at the International Center for the Study of Violent Extremism.
Graduate Student
Adam Factor
Adam received his undergraduate degree in Psychology and Sociology from UC Berkeley, and is now a fourth year graduate student working with Dr. Arie Kruglanski. Before joining the lab, Adam spent some time at the Department of Veterans Affairs in healthcare management research, where his projects focused on emotional labor, burnout, and organizational change. At the Lab, he is pursuing research questions related to motivation, extremism, and gun violence. Outside the lab, Adam consults for a nonprofit group examining the impact of mindfulness in schools.
Graduate Student
Huixian Yu, Lab Manager
Huixian is currently a graduate student working on her Ph.D in our lab and carrying research on love in romantic relationships, and the freedom experience. Huixian received her B.A. degree from the Chinese Normal University in Beijing and is also currently the lab manager of our team and is overseeing and significantly contributing to all of our ongoing research projects.
Affiliated Members
Former Visitor
Pedro Altungy Labrador
Dr. Pedro Altungy Labrador is currently an assistant professor at the Complutense University of Madrid, Spain. He has been a visitor at our lab and an active collaborator on a variety of projects having to do with the psychology of uncertainty, the freedom experience and romantic love.
Collaborator
Gabriele Di Cicco
Dr. Gabriele Di Cicco is currently a post doctoral fellow with Dr. Erica Molinario at the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland, and an avid and enthusiastic collaborator with our lab, and our former visitor. Gabriele, an expert in the analysis of big data, received his Ph.D from the University of Rome, “La Sapienza” under the mentorship of Professor Gilda Sensales. He has participated in our research project on the relation between frustration and aggression, and is currently involved in the international work on the freedom experience and the quest for significance in the context of conflict resolution.
Collaborator
Federico Contu
Dr. Federico Contu is currently a research associate at the Vita-Salute San Raffaele University, in Milan, Italy. He recently obtained his Ph.D under the mentorship of Professor Antonio Pierro at the University of Rome, “La Sapienza.” Federico has been a prolific and enthusiastic collaborator with our lab carrying out research on the psychology of uncertainty, romantic love, conflict resolution, and the experience of freedom.
Former Visitor
Wen Jiang
Wen Jiang was a visitor in our lab for four months in 2024-2025. Wen is currently completing his PhD in Psychology at the Chinese University in Hong Kong, after receiving a B.A. from the Chinese Normal University in Beijing. Wen's research is in the area of goal systems theory and he has been collaborating with our lab in research of the experience of freedom in singlehood and couplehood.
Former Post-Doc
Erica Molinario, PhD
Erica Molinario is an Assistant Professor at the Florida Gulf Coast University. She received her Ph.D. in Social Psychology from La Sapienza University of Rome (Italy) in 2015. Dr. Molinario’s main research is on motivation, human goals, groups and intergroup processes. Moreover, her work focuses on understanding human behaviors, such as pro-environmental actions, violent and benevolent extremism, and political attitudes and activism. At the University of Maryland, she is involved in several funded projects including refugees in the Middle East and Europe.
Former Graduate Student
Jessica Fernandez, PhD
Jess recently completed the SDOS program as a graduate student at the Motivated Cognition Lab. She is now working as a postdoctoral research fellow at the National Institutes of Health, on Minority Health, and Health Disparities. Her research interests include the influence of motivational goals and social environment on health decision making and wellbeing.
Former Graduate Student
Catalina E. Kopetz, PhD
Graduate University of Maryland, 2007. Catalina Kopetz is Associate Professor of Psychology at Wayne State University. Her research focuses on implications of goal pursuit and management of goals for risk taking behaviors (overeating, substance use, risky sexual behavior, and drunk driving). She published in top journals in social and clinical psychology, prevention sciences, psychopharmacology, behavioral and brain sciences, as well as Perspectives in Psychological Science, Current Directions in Psychological Science, and Psychological Review. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, NIDA, NCI, and NIAAA.
Former Post-Doc
Ewa Szumowska, PhD
Ewa Szumowska, Ph.D. is currently working at the Social Psychology Unit at Jagiellonian University in Krakow. She is also a member of the Center for Social Cognitive Studies Krakow. Ewa was a post-doc at the Motivated Cognition Lab from 2018 to 2019. Her research interests are focused on motivation and goal-directed action, epistemic motivation, information processing, multitasking and multiple goal pursuit, and extremism.
Former Visitor
Daniela Di Santo, PhD
Daniela Di Santo is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in the Department of Social and Developmental Psychology at Sapienza University of Rome (Italy), where she earned her doctoral degree in Social Psychology. She visited the Motivated Cognition Lab in 2016. Her work mainly focuses on the research areas of self-regulation, epistemic motivation, and cognitive inconsistency.
Former Post-Doc
Katarzyna Jasko, PhD
Katarzyna Jasko, a former post-doc at the motivated cognition lab, is currently an associate professor at the Institute of Psychology of the Jagiellonian University in Krakow, Poland. Katarzyna studies political activism and social movements as well as the psychology of refugees.
Former Post-Doc
David Webber, PhD
David Webber, a former post-doc at the motivated cognition lab, is currently an assistant professor at the Department of Security Studies at Virginia Commonwealth University. David studies terrorism (international and domestic) as well as the psychology of refugees.
Former Post-Doc
Maxim Milyavsky, PhD
Maxim currently works as a senior lecturer at the Ono Academic College. His research focuses on agency and prosocial behavior. Maxim earned his Phd from the Hebrew University. He wrote his thesis on the role of motivation in intuitive decision-making under the supervision of Ran Hassin and Yaacov Schul. As a postdoctoral researcher in Kruglanski’s Motivated Cognition Lab, he conducted research on topics such as arrogance, need for closure, cognitive energetics, attitudes and behavior, emotion regulation, and goal systems theory.