Bella M. DePaulo

Institution University of California, Santa Barbara Current Position Visiting Professor of Psychology Highest Degree Ph.D. in Social Psychology from Harvard University, 1979 Research Interests Close Relationships Communication Prejudice/Stereotyping Self/Identity Sociology Blog Living Single: The Truth About Singles in Our Society   Bella M. DePaulo P. O. Box 487 2451 Golden Gate Avenue Summerland, California 93067 U.S.A. Home Page Phone: (805) 565-9582 Fax: (805) 695-8402 (This is just a brief summary. To learn more about me or my book, Singled Out, please visit www.belladepaulo.com, or click the "home page" link above. Singled Out is now available in paperback. For a REVIEW COPY or other special deals, go to http://www.belladepaulo.com/specialoffer.htm.) I am interested in the place of people who are single in society and in science. My book on the topic, “Singled Out: How Singles Are Stereotyped, Stigmatized, and Ignored, and Still Live Happily Ever After,” was published by St. Martin's Press in hardcover in 2006 and in paperback in 2007. I also wrote an op-ed published in the New York Times, “Sex and the Single Voter” (June 18, 2004) and another op-ed on singlism that appeared in Newsday and other papers across the country. My colleague Wendy Morris and I wrote a target article, “Singles in society and in science,” for Psychological Inquiry (2005). The abstract is at the end of this summary. For many years, I have also conducted research on the social psychology of deceiving and detecting deceit. In addition, I have written about nonverbal behavior, often from a self-presentational perspective. Online, I am a contributor to the Huffington Post. For example, I have critiqued Newsweek's reconsideration of their infamous quote that 40-year old singletons are more likely to be hit by a terrorist than to ever get married. (See link below.) I have received numbers honors and awards. They include a Research Scientist Development Award, a James McKeen Cattell Award, a National Science Foundation fellowship, and an Excellence in Research Award from the American Association for Single People (AASP), www.UnmarriedAmerica.org. I have served as the Chair of the Academic Advisory Board for AASP. I have also participated in a variety of workshops, including one on the Science of Deception co-sponsored by the CIA, APA, and the RAND Corporation. My research has been funded by grants from federal agencies such as NSF and NIMH, as well as from private foundations, such as the Marchionne Foundation. My research and my points of view have been described in newspapers such as The New York Times, The Washington Post, The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The Los Angeles Times and in magazines such as the New Yorker, Time, the New York Times Magazine, Business Week, U. S. News and World Report, Psychology Today, AARP Magazine, and Utne. I have appeared on CNN, ABC, CBS, NBC (including the Today show), CNBC, PBS, The Discovery Channel, the BBC, and Lifetime. My Visiting Professorship at the University of California, Santa Barbara is my only official university affiliation. (I seem to be a permanent visitor.) I am continuing my writing and research and occasionally offer workshops, seminars, and readings from Singled Out. (Visit my personal website, www.belladepaulo.com, for more information.) I am also available to speak at your events. Abstract of Psych Inquiry target article (2005): “We suggest that adults who are single in contemporary American society are targets of stereotyping, prejudice, and discrimination, a phenomenon we will call singlism. Singlism is an outgrowth of a largely uncontested set of beliefs, the Ideology of Marriage and Family. Its premises include the assumptions that the sexual partnership is the one truly important peer relationship and that people who have such partnerships are happier and more fulfilled than those who do not. We use published claims about the greater happiness of people who are married to illustrate how the scientific enterprise seems to be influenced by the ideology. We propose that people who are single–particularly women who have always been single–fare better than the ideology would predict because they do have positive, enduring, and important interpersonal relationships. The persistence of singlism is especially puzzling considering that actual differences based on civil (marital) status seem to be qualified and small, the number of singles is growing, and sensitivity to other varieties of prejudice is acute. By way of explanation, we consider arguments from evolutionary psychology, attachment theory, a social problems perspective, the growth of the cult of the couple, and the appeal of an ideology that offers a simple and compelling worldview.” Books: DePaulo, Bella. (2006). Singled out: How singles are stereotyped, stigmatized, and ignored, and still live happily ever after. New York: St. Martin's Press. (Paperback was published in 2007.) Journal Articles: Bond, C. F. Jr., & DePaulo, B. M. (in press). Individual differences in detecting deception. Psychological Bulletin. Bond, Charles F. Jr., and DePaulo, B. M. (2006). Accuracy of deception judgments. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10, 214-234. DePaulo, B. M., & Bell, K. L. (1996). Truth and investment: Lies are told to those who care. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 71, 703-716. DePaulo, B. M., Kashy, D. A., Kirkendol, S. E., Wyer, M. M., & Epstein, J. A. (1996). Lying in everyday life. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 979-995. DePaulo, B. M., Lindsay, J. J., Malone, B. E., Muhlenbruck, L., Charlton, K., & Cooper, H. (2003). Cues to deception. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 74-118. DePaulo, B. M., & Morris, W. L. (2006). The unrecognized stereotyping and discrimination against people who are single. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 15, 251-254. DePaulo, B. M., & Morris, W. L. (2005). Should singles and the scholars who study them make their mark or stay in their place? Psychological Inquiry, 16, 142-149. (Response to comments on target article.) DePaulo, B. M., & Morris, W. L. (2005). Singles in society and in science. Psychological Inquiry, 16, 57-83. (Target article.) Morris, W. L., Sinclair, S., & DePaulo, B. M. (2007). No shelter for singles: The perceived legitimacy of marital status discrimination. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 10, 457-470. Other Publications: DePaulo, Bella. (2006, June 11). Newsweek is still wrong. The Huffington Post. DePaulo, Bella. (2007). Single all the way. In D. Mapes (Ed.), Single state of the union. Seal Press. DePaulo, Bella M. (2004, June 18). Sex and the single voter. New York Times [op-ed]. DePaulo, B. M. (2004). The many faces of lies. In A. G. Miller (Ed.), The social psychology of good and evil: Understanding our capacity for kindness and cruelty (pp. 303-326). NY: Guilford. DePaulo, B. M., Morris, W. L., & Sternglanz, R. W. (in press). The clash of two noble intentions: Truthfulness and kindness. In A. L. Vangelisti (Ed.), Feeling hurt in close relationships. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

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