Mark Landau, Ph.D.
- Professor
- ***Dr. Landau will be considering applicants for Fall 2025 admission***
- University of Kansas, Psychology
Contact Info
Lawrence
1415 Jayhawk Blvd
Lawrence, KS 66045
Personal Links
Biography —
Mark Landau, Psychology Professor at KU, received his Ph.D. from the University of Arizona in 2007. His research interests revolve around two major themes within social psychology. One focuses on the core motives that drive everyday thought and behavior. He has shown that deep-seated existential concerns (e.g., mortality denial) motivate individuals’ efforts to make meaningful sense of the social world and their lives. The second theme concerns the cognitive mechanisms that people ordinarily use to understand abstract social concepts. Inspired by perspectives on conceptual metaphor, he has shown that conceptual mappings between superficially dissimilar concepts shape how people understand and make judgements about abstractions. He has received a number of awards recognizing his research, including APA’s Early Career Award and SPSP’s Theoretical Innovation Prize. His application of metaphor theory to study political attitudes and decision making was funded by the National Science Foundation. He received a grant from the National Institute of Mental Health to study the effectiveness of using metaphors in health communication. He has authored or co-edited three books, including Conceptual Metaphor in Social Psychology: The Poetics of Everyday Life. He co-founded and serves as the V.P. for the International Society for the Science of Existential Psychology.
Education —
Research —
Our lab’s research interests revolve around two questions with relevance to social and cognitive psychology. One question concerns the psychological roots of human motivation. Inspired by perspectives in existential psychology (e.g., terror management theory), we investigate how deep-seated existential concerns fuel people's efforts to create and defend meaningful conceptions of others, social events, and their own lives. Findings to date demonstrate the integral role of existential concerns in various aspects of social behavior, from person perception to academic achievement.
A related but distinct question concerns the cognitive mechanisms through which people make meaningful sense of themselves and their social world. Using conceptual metaphor theory as a framework, we investigate how people use metaphors at a conceptual level to understand abstract concepts (e.g., goal pursuit) in terms of dissimilar, relatively more concrete concepts (e.g., movement along paths). Several published findings to date point to metaphoric influences on self-perceptions, consumer decision making, and health intentions, among other outcomes. Findings also reveal effects of theoretically-specified moderating and mediating variables.
Teaching —
In a typical academic year, I teach three classes:
- PSYC 622, typically held in the Fall semester, is an intensive, 6-credit course designed to give students hands-on experience with all major phases of the research process.
- PSYC 775 is a graduate seminar that introduces students to major theoretical and empirical advances in contemporary social psychology, with a topical emphasis on the self, culture, and relationships.
- PSYC 360 and PSYC 361 introduce students to the science of social psychology and the ways in which social psychologists approach the study of human behavior. I emphasize the relevance of social psychological theory and research findings for everyday life.
Selected Publications —
Landau, M.J. (2017). Conceptual metaphor in social psychology: The poetics of everyday life. New York, NY: Routledge.
Landau, M.J., Ryu, Y-J., Greenberg, J., Chur, M., & Pyszczynski, T. (in press). Why is existential uncertainty distressing and persistent? A terror management perspective. In P. Carroll, K. Rios., & K. Oleson (Eds.), Handbook of the uncertain self (2nd ed). Routledge.
Landau, M.J., Kay, A.C., & Whitson, J.A. (2015). Compensatory control and the appeal of a structured world. Psychological Bulletin, 141, 694-722.
Landau, M.J., Oyserman, D., Keefer, L.A., & Smith, G.C. (2014). The college journey and academic engagement: How metaphor use enhanced identity-based motivation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 106, 679-698.
Landau, M.J., Meier, B.P., & Keefer, L.A. (2010). A metaphor-enriched social cognition. Psychological Bulletin, 136, 1045-1067.
Greenberg, J., Schmader, T., Arndt, J., & Landau, M.J. (2021). Social psychology: The science of everyday life, 3rd Edition (textbook). New York, NY: Worth.
Awards & Honors —
Winner, Outstanding Presentation Award at the Research Symposium of the KU Center for Undergraduate Research (Theisen & Landau, 2017).
KU Center for Undergraduate Research
2017 - Present
Recipient, 2017 American Psychological Association (APA) Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology (a.k.a. APA Early Career Award).
American Psychological Association
2016 - Present
Grants & Other Funded Activity —
Landau, Mark J., (Principal), Cognitive and emotional processes of metaphoric cancer communications., R01 CA185378, NIH / National Cancer Institute (R01), (01/01/2014 - 12/31/2018) . Federal. Status: Funded.
Service —
Many service appointments at the levels of the Department, College, University, and the broader Field.