Beth Pontari is a social psychologist whose research interests address the reality that how people present themselves to others during social interaction has critical repercussions for their personal and professional life. She was drawn to this area of psychology because of the implications that coming across well to others has on intra- and inter-personal outcomes.

Beth began her career in psychology at Colgate University in Hamilton, New York where she graduated with a B.A. in psychology. She then attended the University of Florida in Gainesville where she completed her M.S. and Ph.D. under the tutelage of Barry Schlenker. Beth’s goal after obtaining her Ph.D. was to teach at a university similar to Colgate and provide students with some of the experiences she obtained as an undergraduate. She is happy to have the opportunity to do this at Furman.

Beth’s area of research is self-presentation and impression management. Her current research projects span several areas. She is interested in examining the underlying processes involved in presenting one self to others, particularly the cognitive effort that may or may not go into impression management. She is also investigating how presenting identities to others -- even unfamiliar ones -- affects self-views, and how acceptance and validation from others affects this process. A third area of research addresses how impression management is not something people do only four themselves That is, Beth studies how friends and partners may help each other come across well to others. Finally, Beth applies these areas to better understand those who have difficulty with self-presentation -- the socially anxious. Currently she is examining two potential coping mechanisms for the socially anxious. One applies the work she has done on the influence of cognitive distraction on self-presentation and the other applies how friends’ assistance in social life may be crucial for socially anxious people to enter into and navigate social life.

Beth was born in Northfield, New Jersey -- a town outside of Atlantic City. She enjoys the beach (especially the Southern New Jersey beaches, of course) and lives with her husband David, daughter Lucia Rose (“Lucy”), and cats Rosie and Zora.