Psychology - Faculty & Staff

Bobby Horton is a social and personality psychologist whose research interests are in (a) the origins and consequences of narcissistic self-regard, with a special focus on the possible role that new media (e.g., social networking websites and reality TV) play in such, and (b) interpersonal attraction. In the past five years he has also become an active member of the college’s efforts to improve its students’ Freshman Year Experience. He helped with an assessment of that experience four years ago, served as co-chair of Freshman Tutorial for 5 years, is involved in efforts to improve Freshman Advising, and is currently co-chair of the new all-college course Enduring Questions.

In the classroom, Bobby teaches the Psychology Department’s Social Psychology courses (intermediate and advanced) with the advanced course (Psy 322) focusing on empirical investigations of the self-concept and self-esteem. He also teaches Introductory Psychology (Psy 101) and Research Methods and Statistics (Psy 201/202) every two or three years. Finally, he regularly teaches Freshman Tutorial (most recently, about Non-conscious processes and what they mean for free will) and Enduring Questions.

When not engaged in teaching, scholarship, or service to the college, Bobby spends time with his wife and three children (two boys, Marshall and Whitman, and one daughter, Maesa). Though he was once a regular runner, even going so far as running a couple of marathons in his younger days, his role as soccer coach, part-time swim coach, and non-profit volunteer (with the Boys and Girls Club of Montgomery County and the Montgomery County Visitors' Bureau) have relegated him to the ranks of the non-athlete. Still, he maintains an intense love of sport, showing an unnatural affection for University of Georgia football and University of North Carolina basketball, and attending as many Wabash sporting events as possible.