Ph.D., Utah
Nancy S. Fagley's research focuses on two areas: decision making, and appreciation and its relation to psychological well being. In the area of decision making, she has examined the framing effect, which is predicted by Prospect Theory. She has identified task, scenario, and individual difference variables that moderate the occurrence of framing effects on risky choices. In the area of appreciation and psychological well being, she has helped develop and validate an instrument to measure individual differences in appreciativeness and demonstrated that appreciativeness significantly contributes to positive affect and life satisfaction, even after controlling for individual differences in dispositional optimism. Dr. Fagley has served on the editorial board of the Journal of Applied School Psychology and as a reviewer for a number of scholarly journals including Psychological Bulletin, Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, Journal of Behavioral Decision Making, and Psychological Science. She teaches courses on statistical methods, advanced statistics and research design, judgment and decision making, and cognitive, affective, and social psychology across the lifespan.
