Omri Gillath, Ph.D.

Omri Gillath, Ph.D., is a Full Professor in the Department of Psychology and the Hoglund Brain Imaging Center at the University of Kansas. He has been the principal investigator on multiple grant-supported research projects. He has authored two books and has written numerous articles and book chapters on close relationships, attachment processes, social networks, AI, and the underlying mechanisms of social interactions. His papers are published in prestigious outlets such as JPSP, PSPB, and Computers in Human Behavior. His work focuses on the underpinnings of human pair-bonding behavior and the personality facets affecting behavior and cognition. In recent years, he has expanded this work by using advanced techniques, including neuroimaging, gene mapping, and virtual reality environments, to examine a diverse range of correlates and substrates of close-relationship-related behaviors. In this new line of research, he explores the associations between a person’s attachment style (or relationship style) and his or her cognitive performance, as well as the association between one’s sense of attachment security and his or her behavior in other domains such as sexuality, caregiving, and exploration (e.g., ability to provide and receive compassionate care; interest in short- vs. long-term mating strategies). Before coming to the University of Kansas, where he presently teaches, Prof. Gillath taught and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California, Davis.