Social Psychology Network

Maintained by Scott Plous, Wesleyan University

Keith E. Davis

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  • SPN Mentor

Trained at Duke University in social psychology (Ph. D., 1963), Dr. Keith E. Davis was a member of Edward E. Jones’s laboratory that made the initial development of attribution theory. Subsequently he taught at Princeton, the University of Colorado, Boulder, and Rutgers University before coming to the University of South Carolina. At USC, he served as Department Chair, Interim Dean and University Provost before returning to full-time faculty position in 1979.

His research has focused on the development of intimate relationships (friendship and love), social support and health, and relationship violence including stalking. He has published over 110 articles and book chapters and co-edited 6 (% in the Advances in Descriptive Psychology series. books. Some of his publications and his measure of the characteristics of friendship and love relationships (the RRF) have been translated into all the major European languages, Chinese, and Japanese. His work on attachment theory helped to establish it as one of the primary theories of adult romantic relationships. As a result of his contact with Peter G. Ossorio at Colorado, he has been active as an author and editor in promoting a constructivist view of psychology as a behavioral science through the development of Descriptive Psychology. He has served as the co-editor of Advances in Descriptive Psychology, associate editor of Personal Relationships,executive editor of Journal of Social Psychology, and on the editorial boards of the Journal of Social & Personal Relations, , and Violence & Victims, and reviewed articles for all the major US social and personality journals. He has also served as a grant reviewer for The Canada Council, The Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO), Social Sciences, NSF, NICHHD, & NIMH.

Primary Interests:

  • Aggression, Conflict, Peace
  • Causal Attribution
  • Close Relationships
  • Law and Public Policy
  • Research Methods, Assessment
  • Self and Identity
  • Sexuality, Sexual Orientation

Books:

Journal Articles:

Other Publications:

  • Davis, K. E. (in press). Stalkers and their worlds. In K. E. Davis & R. M. Bergner (Eds.), Advances in Descriptive Psychology (Vol. 8). Ann Arbor, MI: The Descriptive Psychology Press.
  • Davis, K. E. (2001). The Relationship Rating Form (RRF): A measure of characteristics of romantic relationships and friendships. In J. Touliatos, B. Perlmutter, & G. Holden (Eds.), Handbook of family measurement techniques (Vol. 1, 2nd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.
  • Davis, K. E. (1999). What attachment styles and love styles add to the understand of relationship commitment and stability. In W. Jones & J. Adams (Eds.), Handbook of interpersonal commitment and relationship stability (pp. 221-237). New York: Kluwer Academic/Plenum.
  • Davis, K. E., & Mechanic, M. B. (in press). Stalking victimization: Its consequences and prevention. In C. Mitchell (Ed.), Intimate partner violence: A bio-psycho-social approach. New York: Oxford University Press.

Courses Taught:

Keith E. Davis
Department of Psychology
University of South Carolina
1512 Pendleton Street
Columbia, South Carolina 29208
United States of America

  • Phone: (803) 777-4639
  • Fax: (803) 777-9558

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