Professor of Psychology
UNC Greensboro
​Google Scholar

Education
PhD Ohio University 2010
BS Towson University 2004

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Publications

Zell, E., & Johansson, J. S. (in press). The association of self-esteem with health and well-being: A quantitative synthesis of 40 meta-analyses. Social Psychological and Personality Science.

Zell, E., & Stockus, C. A. (in press). Social support and psychological adjustment: A quantitative synthesis of 60 meta-analyses. American Psychologist.

Alicke, M. D., Zhang, Y., Stephenson, N. B., & Zell, E. (2024). Self-evaluation in competition pools. In S. M. Garcia, A. Tor, & A. Elliot (Eds.), Oxford handbook of the psychology of competition (pp. 332-349). Oxford University Press.

Stockus, C. A., & Zell, E. (2024). Empathic forecasting of the big-fish-little-pond effect. Cognition and Emotion, 38, 44-58.

​Stockus, C. A., & Zell, E. (2024). Moderators of the big-fish-little-pond effect: A scoping review. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 18, e12860.

Zell, E., & Sedikides, C. (2024). Self-enhancement and counterproductive COVID-19 behavior. In M. K. Miller (Ed.), The social science of the COVID-19 pandemic: A call to action for researchers (pp. 94-106). Oxford University Press.
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Stockus, C. A., & Zell, E. (2023). The regional big-fish-little-pond effect: Evidence from national and subnational comparisons. British Journal of Social Psychology, 62, 1158-1176.

Zell, E., Rivera, S., & Stockus, C. A. (2023). Political differences in knowledge and its connection with vaccination during COVID-19. Social Psychology, 54, 195-204.

​Zell, E., Stockus, C. A., Lesick, T. L., & Sedikides, C. (2023). Self-enhancement and physical health: A meta-analysis. British Journal of Social Psychology, 62, 583-599. 

​Hawkins, H.-C. C., Lesick, T. L., & Zell, E. (2022). Implicit self-esteem following a romantic partner’s success: Three replications and a meta-analysis. Personal Relationships, 29, 41-50.
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Zell, E., & Lesick, T. L. (2022). Big five personality traits and performance: A quantitative synthesis of 50+ meta-analyses. Journal of Personality, 90, 559-573

Zell, E., & Lesick, T. L. (2022). Ignorance of history and political differences in perception of racism in the United States. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 13, 1022-1031.
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Zell, E., Stockus, C. A., & Bernstein, M. J. (2022). It’s their fault: Partisan attribution bias and its association with voting intentions. Group Processes & Intergroup Relations, 25, 1139-1156.
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Lesick, T. L., & Zell, E. (2021). Is affirmation the cure? Self-affirmation and European Americans’ perception of systemic racism. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 43, 1-13.

​Zell, E., & Lesick, T. L. (2021). Taking social comparison to the extremes: The huge-fish-tiny-pond effect in self-evaluations. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 12, 1030-1038.

Rose, S., Zell, E., & Strickhouser, J. E. (2020). The effect of meditation on health: A metasynthesis of randomized controlled trials. Mindfulness, 11, 507-516.

Zell, E., & Alicke, M. D. (2020). Effects of local and general comparisons on self-assessment. In J. Suls, R. L. Collins, & L. Wheeler (Eds.), Social comparison, judgment, and behavior (pp. 141-175). Oxford University Press.

​Zell, E., & Strickhouser, J. E. (2020). Comparisons across dimensions, people, and time: On the primacy of social comparison in self-evaluations. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 11, 791-800.

​Zell, E., Strickhouser, J. E., Sedikides, C., & Alicke, M. D. (2020). The better-than-average effect in comparative self-evaluation: A comprehensive review and meta-analysis. Psychological Bulletin, 146, 118-149. ​

Strickhouser, J. E., Zell, E., & Harris, K. (2019). Ignorance of history and perceptions of racism: Another look at the Marley Hypothesis. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 10, 977-985.

Zell, E., Strickhouser, J. E., & Krizan, Z. (2018). Subjective social status and health: A meta-analysis of community and society ladders. Health Psychology, 37, 979-987. 

Zell, E., Su, R., & Albarracín, D. (2018). Dialectical thinking and attitudes toward action/inaction beyond East Asia. In J. Spencer-Rodgers, & K. Peng (Eds.), The psychological and cultural foundations of East Asian cognition: Contradiction, change, and holism (pp. 595-610). Oxford University Press.

Strickhouser, J. E., Zell, E., & Krizan, Z. (2017). Does personality predict health and well-being? A metasynthesis. Health Psychology, 36, 797-810

Zell, E., Strickhouser, J. E., & Alicke, M. D. (2017). Local dominance affects on self-evaluations and intrinsic motivation. Self and Identity, 16, 629-644

Zell, E., Strickhouser, J. E., Lane, T. N., & Teeter, S. R. (2016). Mars, Venus, or Earth? Sexism and the exaggeration of psychological gender differences. Sex Roles, 75, 287-300.
 
Nater, C., & Zell, E. (2015). Accuracy of social perception: An integration and review of meta-analyses. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 9, 481-494.
 
Strickhouser, J. E., & Zell, E. (2015). Self-evaluative effects of dimensional and social comparison. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 59, 60-66.
 
Zell, E., Alicke, M. D., & Strickhouser, J. E. (2015). Referent status neglect: Winners evaluate themselves favorably even when the competitor is incompetent. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 56, 18-23.

Zell, E., Krizan, Z., & Teeter, S. R. (2015). Evaluating gender similarities and differences using metasynthesis. American Psychologist, 70, 10-20.
 
Zell, E., & Bernstein, M. J. (2014). You may think you’re right…young adults are more liberal than they realize. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 5, 326-333.
 
Zell, E., & Krizan, Z. (2014). Do people have insight into their abilities? A metasynthesis. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 9, 111-125.

Alicke, M. D., Zell, E., & Guenther, C. L. (2013). Social self-analysis: Constructing, protecting, and enhancing the self. Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 48, 173-234.
 
Zell, E., & Alicke, M. D. (2013). Local dominance in health risk perception. Psychology & Health, 28, 469-476.

Zell, E., Su, R., Li, H., Ho, M.-H. R., Hong, S., Kumkale, T., Stauffer, S. D., Zecca G., Cai, H., 
Roccas, S., Arce-Michel, J., de Sousa, C., Diaz-Loving, R., Botero, M. M., Mannetti, L., Garcia, C., Carrera, P., Cabalero, A., Ikemi, M., . . . Albarracín. D. (2013). Cultural differences in attitudes toward action and inaction: The role of dialecticism. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 4, 521-528.

Alicke, M. D., Guenther C. L., & Zell, E. (2012). Social self-analysis: Constructing and maintaining personal identity. In M. Leary, & J. Tangney (Eds.), Handbook of self and identity (2nd ed.). (pp. 291-308). Guilford Press.

Zell, E., Warriner, A. B., & Albarracín, D. (2012). Splitting of the mind: When the you I talk to is me and needs commands. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 3, 549-555.

Zell, E., & Alicke, M. D. (2011). Age and the better-than-average effect. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 41, 1175-1188.

Alicke, M. D., Zell, E., & Bloom, D. L. (2010). Mere categorization and the frog-pond effect. Psychological Science, 21, 174-177.
 
Zell, E., & Alicke, M. D. (2010). The local dominance effect in self-evaluation: Evidence and explanations. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14, 368-384.
 
Zell, E., & Alicke, M. D. (2010). Comparisons over time: Temporal trajectories, social comparison, and self evaluation. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 375-382.

Alicke, M. D., & Zell, E. (2009). Social attractiveness and blame. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 39, 2089-2105.
 
Markman, K. D., Karadogan, F., Lindberg, M. J., & Zell, E. (2009). Counterfactual thinking: Function and dysfunction. In K. D. Markman, W. M. P. Klein, & J. A. Suhr (Eds.), The handbook of imagination and mental simulation (pp. 175-194). Psychology Press.

Zell, E., & Alicke, M. D. (2009). Contextual neglect, self-evaluation, and the frog-pond effect. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 97, 467-482.
 
Zell, E., & Alicke, M. D. (2009). Self-evaluative effects of temporal and social comparison. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45, 223-227.

Alicke, M. D., & Zell, E. (2008). Social comparison and envy. In R. H. Smith (Ed.), Envy: Theory and research (pp. 73-93). Oxford University Press.

Alicke, M. D., Buckingham, J. B., Zell, E., & Davis, T. (2008). Culpable control and counterfactual reasoning in the psychology of blame. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, 1371-1381.