Currently a third year PhD student at University of California, Merced advised by Dr. Jennifer L. Howell, my research examines the cognitive, emotional, and motivational components involved in the different ways that people protect how they think and feel about themselves and how these processes influence self-concept change and behavior, particularly in self-evaluative and interpersonal contexts. In the long run, my goal is to understand how people can efficiently use information about themselves and about their health to become active agents in the pursuit of a healthy life.