About
10
Publications
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Introduction
Willis is a PhD candidate in Experimental Psychology at McGill University. He is interested in the epistemic function of close relationships. His research focuses on better understanding the psychological consequences of gaslighting and how to recover from epistemic abuse. He is also interested in how close relationships alter the self-concept. Willis holds a BSc in Psychology and Cognitive Science from the University of Toronto.
Current institution
Education
September 2011 - November 2020
Univeristy of Toronto
Field of study
- Psychology, Cognitive Science, and Philosophy
Publications
Publications (10)
A replication and extension of the effects of oxytocin on agency and communion for anxiously and avoidantly attached individuals
Embodied cognition theorists posit that abstract self-representations are predicated on models of the self as an embodied agent. Self-concept clarity, which measures the stability of individuals’ beliefs about themselves, should be related to stability of body representation. Participants were administered intranasal Oxytocin (vs. Placebo) and the...
Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation that causes a victim to doubt their sense of reality, usually leading to a loss of agency (i.e., confidence and sense of self) and emotional and mental instability. The phenomenon was first identified over 50 years ago and discourse on the topic was largely confined to psychiatry/medicine; however...
Gaslighting is a form of psychological manipulation that causes a victim to doubt their thoughts and sense of reality, usually leading to a loss of confidence, self-esteem, and sense of emotional and mental stability. Despite gaslighting first being identified over 50 years ago, and recent public interest in the phenomenon, the psychological litera...
Gaslighting is an understudied form of abuse wherein a sane and rational survivor is convinced of their own epistemic incompetence on false pretenses by a perpetrator. The current study aimed to characterize the features of gaslighting as well as test and verify common claims about gaslighting. We recruited participants ( N = 65) who self‐identifie...
Oxytocin(OT) directs attention away from the self and toward others. By administering intra-nasal OT and performing the rubber-hand illusion(RHI) (we show that for anxiously attached individuals, who already have a fragile self-concept and are more other-oriented OT decreases their sense of agency, including bodily-agency. Specifically, anxiously a...
Gaslighting is an understudied form of abuse wherein a sane and rational victim is convinced of their own epistemic incompetence on false pretenses by a perpetrator. We recruited participants (N = 65) who self-identified as having experienced gaslighting in romantic relationships to fill out a qualitative survey wherein they described instances of...
At: San Francisco, CA, USA
