Media
3 Minute Thesis Competition Eastern Regionals: Brenda Lee
Three minutes. Eleven of Canada's best minds. The power of the spoken word.
That's the formula for Canada's Three Minute Thesis Competition. It is a friendly but intense contest where graduate students present the complexities of their research in an engaging and accessible way before a live audience. In 2017, 42 of Canada’s graduate schools used the competition to refine the communication skills of students.
Brenda Lee was the second place Eastern Regional representative after winning first place at the University of New Brunswick, her home institution. Her talk was named "Maintaining Monogamy in Committed Romantic Relationships."

Interview on CBC Information Morning
CBC | Information Morning Fredericton, March 28, 2014Radio/Podcast
URL: http://www.cbc.ca/informationmorningfredericton/2014/03/28/swingin-to-spring/
Promoting the Fredericton Swing Dance Club and its inaugural Swingin' to Spring event.

Interview on CBC Radio
CBC | The Current, October 13, 2014Radio/Podcast
URL: http://www.cbc.ca/radio/thecurrent
Regarding my Masters level research on post-relationship breakup contact and tracking.

Quoted in Elle Canada
Elle Canada, March 16, 2015Print
URL: http://www.ellecanada.com/life-and-love/article/status-update-the-rise-of-on-and-off-couples
Regarding my Masters level research on post-relationship breakup contact and tracking.
Interview on the Daily Gleaner
Telegraph Journal | The Daily Gleaner, October 28, 2014Print
Interview and research feature by Chislett, T. regarding my Masters level research on post-relationship breakup contact and tracking. "Breaking up still hard to do for young adults" (A8).
The ex-factor: Characteristics of online and offline post-relationship contact and tracking among Canadian emerging adults.
Published by Canadian Journal Of Human Sexuality
August 1, 2014
The breakup of an intimate relationship is a highly distressing event among emerging adults (Cutler, Glaeser, Norberg, 2001) and can often be accompanied by difficulty adjusting to the loss and ‘‘letting go’’ (Mearns, 1991). Research on stalking and cyberstalking behaviours address criminal activities that incite fear in a target (e.g., Spitzberg & Cupach, 2007). Little is known about more general post-relationship contact and tracking (PRCT), that is, efforts to maintain or re-establish contact with an ex-partner or to track their whereabouts, new partnerships or activities. To understand both the use and experience of PRCT, we examined reports from 271 Canadian emerging adults (aged 18–25) regarding their most recent breakup within the prior year. Results indicated that online and offline forms of post-relationship contact and tracking were common, characterizing 87.8% of all recent breakups, and were typically used in conjunction. In fact, online forms rarely occurred in isolation. Attempts to keep in contact were most commonly reported by users and targets of behaviours, whereas extreme and threatening behaviours that might comprise stalking or cyberstalking were rare. No gender differences were found in the use of PRCT behaviours, although women reported experiencing more offline forms. KEY WORDS: Relationships, breakups, stalking, cyberstalking, online, emerging adulthood
The Integration of Agency and Communion in Moral Personality: Evidence of Enlightened Self-Interest
Published by Journal of Personality and Social Psychology
July 1, 2011
Agency and communion are fundamental human motives, often conceptualized as being in tension. This study examines the notion that moral exemplars overcome this tension and adaptively integrate these 2 motives within their personality. Participants were 25 moral exemplars—recipients of a national award for extraordinary volunteerism—and 25 demographically matched comparison participants. Each participant responded to a life review interview and provided a list of personal strivings, which were coded for themes of agency and communion; interviews were also coded for the relationship between agency and communion. Results consistently indicated that exemplars not only had both more agency and communion than did comparison participants but were also more likely to integrate these themes within their personality. Consistent with our claim that enlightened self-interest is driving this phenomenon, this effect was evident only when agency and communion were conceptualized in terms of promoting interests (of the self and others, respectively) and not in terms of psychological distance (from others) and only when the interaction was observed with a person approach and not with the traditional variable approach. After providing a conceptual replication of these results using different measures elicited in different contexts and relying on different coding procedures, we addressed and dismissed various alternative explanations, including chance co-occurrence and generalized complexity. These results provide the first reliable evidence of the integration of motives of agency and communion in moral personality.
It Hurts to Let You Go: Characteristics of Romantic Relationships, Breakups and the Aftermath Among Emerging Adults
Published by Journal of Relationships Research
August 31, 2016
Relationship breakups are common (Connolly & McIsaac, 2009), and difficulty adjusting to the breakup can manifest as post-relationship contact and tracking (PRCT; Lee & O'Sullivan, 2014). Emerging adults (n = 271; aged 18–25; 66% female) provided reports of PRCT after their most recent breakup in the previous year. We examined relationship and breakup characteristics to predict the use of and experience of PRCT. Logistic regression analyses revealed that ex-partner initiation of the breakup and a more intense breakup predicted the use of PRCT, and ex-partner's surprise regarding the breakup predicted being a target of PRCT. A between-subjects comparison of participants who either used or experienced PRCT reported similar impact of PRCT on the self or their ex-partner. However, participants who both used and experienced PRCT reported that the impact that an ex-partner's PRCT had on their lives was more negative than their use of PRCT had on their ex-partner's life, likely reflecting an actor-observer bias in reports. Difficulty adjusting to relationship breakup is normal, and predictive of attempts to remain in contact with an ex-partner. However, the seemingly benign form of contact can have a negative impact on individuals. The findings have implications for those counselling individuals in distress following a breakup, and contribute to the discourse around boundaries after a breakup.
Hierarchical Integration of Agency and Communion: A Study of Influential Moral Figures
Published by Journal of Personality
August 1, 2012
The purpose of this research is to (a) identify which of recent history's influential figures did and which did not personify moral excellence, and (b) to examine the motives that drove these individuals along such divergent paths. In Study 1, 102 social scientists evaluated the moral qualities of influential figures from Time Magazine's lists. In Study 2, we selected the 15 top ranking of these figures to comprise a moral exemplar group and the bottom 15 to comprise a comparison group of similarly influential people. We measured the motivational aspects of their personality (agency and communion) by content-analyzing extant speeches and interviews. Moral exemplars exhibited the hierarchical integration of agency and communion by treating agentic motives as a means to an end of communal motives. Comparison subjects, by contrast, personified unmitigated agency by treating motives of agency as both a means to an end and an end unto itself. These results imply that both the strength and structure of a person's motives account for moral behavior.
URL: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1467-6494.2012.00764.x/full
Biography
Dr. Brenda Lee is a registered psychologist allowing her the opportunity to work with people from different walks of life to improve their mental wellness. She completed her Doctorate in Clinical Psychology (Ph.D.) at the University of New Brunswick, and completed her pre-doctoral residency at the University of Manitoba. During her graduate studies, Lee conducted extensive research looking at relationship and gender dynamics, including stalking/cyberstalking, relationship maintenance, and infidelity. Lee has expertise in developing policies targeting physical and psychological safety in community groups. Her work is informed by intersectional feminism, and her experiences as a first generation Taiwanese-Canadian immigrant.
Recognition/Reconnaissance
Snodgrass Prize for Graduate Student Research in Psychology | Professional
This award is for the best graduate student paper that has been submitted to a refereed journal. The scholarly work must have been done while the student was in residence in the Psychology Department at UNB, Fredericton campus. The paper must have been submitted to a recognized professional journal that publishes work in psychology, and can be co-authored so long as the student is the principal author.
Snodgrass Graduate Research Proposal Award | Professional
Recipients of this award is chosen by an adjudicating committee struck by the Chair of the Department of Psychology. The award was made based on the scholarly merit of your research, which was judged on the basis of the following criteria: innovation, rigour, and potential to make a contribution to the discipline, as well as on your competence in presenting the study in the proposal.
Additional Titles and Affiliations
Canadian Psychological Association
Canadian Sex Research Forum
Research Grants
Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships - Doctoral scholarship
Organization: Social Sciences and Humanities Research CouncilDate: September 1, 2012
Grant amount: $35,000
Details:
The SSHRC Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships (CGS) Doctoral Scholarships aim to develop research skills and assist in the training of highly qualified personnel by supporting students who demonstrate a high standard of scholarly achievement in undergraduate and graduate studies in the social sciences and humanities.
More information: http://www.sshrc-crsh.gc.ca/funding-financement/programs-programmes/fellowships/doctoral-doctorat-eng.aspx
Joseph-Armand Bombardier Canada Graduate Scholarships - Master’s scholarship
Organization: Social Sciences and Humanities Research CouncilDate: September 1, 2011
Grant amount: $17,500
Details:
The objective of the Canada Graduate Scholarships-Master’s (CGS M) Program is to help develop research skills and assist in the training of highly qualified personnel by supporting students who demonstrate a high standard of achievement in undergraduate and early graduate studies. The CGS M Program provides financial support to high-calibre scholars who are engaged in eligible master’s or, in some cases, doctoral programs in Canada (refer to Eligibility). This support allows these scholars to fully concentrate on their studies in their chosen fields.
More information: http://www.nserc-crsng.gc.ca/Students-Etudiants/PG-CS/CGSM-BESCM_eng.asp