My interest in interpersonal relations has been strongly shaped by the diversity of my academic training and experience. A psychology Masters in Germany, a Ph.D. in clinical and social psychology in Belgium, research and teaching at the department of Child and Adolescent Studies in the Netherlands and finally my work in social psychology have sharply molded my thinking and research on the subject. The common denominator to my interdisciplinary approach to interpersonal relations is my concern with understanding how—and how well—people perceive their relationships with others and how these perceptions (and misperceptions) affect their behavior, thoughts, emotions, and relationships.

The central focus of my research is people’s evaluations of their relationships (covering the range from relationships between strangers, to relationships between friends, intimate partners, married couples, to entire families) and how relationship partners make judgments about each other. One of my research aims is to identify means of fostering harmonious relationships and preventing misunderstandings and conflict. Specific questions that my research tries to answer include: How good are people in making affective forecasts for themselves and others? How and why do people decide to share information with their partners versus keep secrets? What can parents do to instill self-control in their children? Can one relationship partner compensate for the other’s lack of self-control?

Finkenauer, C., Frijns, T., Engels, R.C.M.E., & Kerkhof, P. (in press). Perceiving Concealment in Relationships between Parents and Adolescents: Links with Parental Behavior . Personal Relationships.

Finkenauer, C., Engels, R. C. M. E., & Baumeister, R. F. (in press). Parenting and adolescent externalizing and internalizing problems: The role of self-control. International Journal of Behavioral Development.

Frijns, T., Finkenauer, C., Vermulst, A., & Engels, R. C. M. E. (in press). Keeping secrets from parents: Longitudinal associations of secrecy in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence.

Engels, R. C. M. E., Finkenauer, C., Kerr, M., & Stattin, H. (in press). Illusions of parental control: Parenting and smoking onset in Swedish and Dutch adolescents. Journal of Applied Social Psychology.

Finkenauer, C., Engels, R. C. M. E., Branje, S. & Meeus, W. (2004). Disclosure and relationship satisfaction in families. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 195-209.

Finkenauer, C., Engels, R. C. M. E., & Meeus, W. (2002). Keeping secrets from parents: Advantages and disadvantages of secrecy in adolescence. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 31, 123-136.

Den Exter Blokland, E. A. W., Engels, R. C. M. E., & Finkenauer, C. (2001). Parenting practices, self-control and adolescent delinquency. Aggressive Behaviors, 27, 216.

Baumeister, R. F., Bratslavsky, E., Finkenauer, C., & Vohs, K. D. (2001). Bad is stronger than good. Review of General Psychology, 5, 323-370.

Engels, R. C. M. E., Finkenauer, C., Meeus, W., & Dekovic, M. (2001). Effects of parental attachment on adolescents’ emotional adjustment: The effects of social skills and relational competence. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 48, 428-439.

Hinde, R. A., Finkenauer, C., & Auhagen, A. E. (2001). Relationships and the self-concept. Personal Relationships, 8, 187-204.

Curci, A., Luminet, O., Finkenauer, C., & Gisle, L. (2001). Flashbulb Memories in Social Groups: A Comparative Study of the Memory of French President Mitterrand’s Death in a French and a Belgian Group. Memory, 9, 81-101.

Singh-Manoux, A. & Finkenauer, C. (2001). Cultural variations in social sharing of emotions: An intercultural perspective on a universal phenomenon. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 32, 647-661.

Stroebe, M., Schut, H., & Finkenauer, C. (2001). The traumatization of grief? A conceptual framework for understanding the trauma-bereavement interface. Israel Journal of Psychiatry, 38, 185-201.

Finkenauer, C., & Meeus, W. (2000). How (pro-)social is the caring motive? Psychological Inquiry, 11 , 100-103.

Finkenauer, C., & Hazam, H. (2000). Disclosure and secrecy in marriage: Do both contribute to marital satisfaction? Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 17, 247-265.

Törnqvist, J., van Broeck, N., Finkenauer, C., Rosati, R., Schwering, K. L., Hayez, J. Y., Janssen, M., & Otte, J. B. (1999). Long-term psychosocial adjustment following pediatric liver transplantation. Pediatric Transplantation, 3, 115-125.

Rimé, B., Finkenauer, C., Luminet, O., Zech, E., & Philippot, P. (1998). Social sharing of emotion: New evidence and new questions. In W. Stroebe & M. Hewstone (Eds.), European Review of Social Psychology (Vol. 9, pp.145-189). Chichester: Wiley.

Finkenauer, C., & Rimé, B. (1998). Socially shared emotional experiences vs. emotional experiences kept secret: Differential characteristics and consequences. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 17, 295-318.

Finkenauer, C., Luminet, O., Gisle, L., El-Ahmadi, A., van der Linden, M., & Philippot, P. (1998). Flashbulb memories and the underlying mechanisms of their formation: Towards an emotional-integrative model. Memory and Cognition, 26, 516-531.

Finkenauer, C. & Rimé, B. (1998). Keeping emotional memories secret: Health and subjective well-being when emotions are not shared. Journal of Health Psychology, 3, 47-58.

Schwering, K. L., Febo-Mandl, F., Finkenauer, C., Rimé, B., Hayez, J. Y., & Otte J. B. (1997). Psychological and social adjustment after pediatric liver transplantation as a function of age at surgery and of time elapsed since transplantation. Pediatric Transplantation, 1, 138-145.

Finkenauer, C., & Baumeister, R. F. (1997). L'effet des variables subjectives sur le bonheur: Résultats de la recherche et implications pour la thérapie [The impact of subjective variables on happiness: Empirical findings and their implications for psychotherapy]. Revue Québécoise de Psychologie, 18 , 99-118.

Fiedler, K., Semin, G. R., Finkenauer, C. & Berkel, I. (1995). Actor-Observer bias in close relationships: The role of self-knowledge and self-related language. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 21, 525-538.

Fiedler, K., Semin, G. R. & Finkenauer, C. (1993). The battle of words between gender groups: A language-based approach to intergroup processes. Human Communication Research, 19, 409-441.

-National (refereed) journals

Danner, U. N., van Dijk, W. W., & Finkenauer, C. (2003). Van Kwaad tot Erger? De invloed van rumination en afleiding op de emoties boosheid en schuld. In E. van Dijk, E. Kluwer, en D. Wigboldus (Eds.), Jaarboek Sociale Psychologie (pp. 69-76). Delft, The Netherlands: Eburon.

Finkenauer, C., Engels, R. C. M. E., & Meeus, W. (2002). Mijn geheim: de kosten en baten van geheimen voor ouders in de adolescentie, Pedagogiek, 22, 214-232.

Engels, R. C. M. E., Finkenauer, C., Dekovic, M., & Meeus, W. (2000). Sociale competentie, vriendschapsrelaties en psychosociaal welbevinden [Social competence, peer relations, and emotional well-being]. Pedagogiek, 4, 291-309.

Finkenauer, C. (1999). Investigating the link between secrecy and health: Empirical findings and theoretical implications. Gedrag & Gezondheid, 27, 2-7.

-Books, or contributions to books

Koole, S. L., Kuhl, J., Jostmann, N., & Finkenauer, C. (in press). Self-regulation in interpersonal relationships: The case of Action versus State Orientation. In K. D. Vohs, & E. J. Finkel (Eds.), Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Processes: How they relate. New York: Guilford.

Finkenauer, C., Engels, R. C. M. E., Meeus, W., & Oosterwegel, A. (2002). Self and identity in early adolescence: The pains and gains of growing up. In T. M. Brinthaupt, & R. P. Lipka, (Eds.), Understanding early adolescent self and identity: Applications and interventions (pp. 25-56). Albany, NY: State University of New York Press.

Den Exter Blokland, E. A. W., Engels, R. C. M. E., & Finkenauer, C. (2001). Parenting styles, self-control and male juvenile delinquency: The mediating role of self-control in explaining juvenile delinquency. In M. Martinez (Ed.), Prevention and control of aggression and the impacts on its victims (pp. 201-207). Kluwer Press.

Finkenauer, C., Gisle, L., & Luminet, O. (2000). Cuando las memorias individuales se forman socialmente. Memorias de “Flash” de sucesos sociopoliticos. In A. Rosa Rivero, G. Bellelli, & D. Bakhurst (Eds.), Memoria colectiva e identidad nacional (pp. 159-180). Madrid, Spain: Biblioteca Nueva.

Finkenauer, C. & Rimé, B. (1998). Emotionelle Geheimnisse: Determinanten und Konsequenzen. In A. Spitznagel (Hrsg.). Geheimnis - Geheimhaltung: Erscheinungsformen, Funktionen, Konsequenzen (pp. 181-196). Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe

Finkenauer, C., Gisle, L, & Luminet, O. (1997). When collective memories are socially shaped: Flashbulb memories of socio-political events. In J. W. Pennebaker, D. Paez, & B. Rimé (Eds.). Collective memories of political events: Social and psychological perspectives (pp. 191-208). Hillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Fiedler, K., Semin, G. R., & Finkenauer, C. (1994). Welchen Spielraum lässt die Sprache für die Attribution? In F. Försterling & J. Stiensmeier-Pelster (Hrsg.): Attributionstheorie: Grundlagen und Anwendungen (pp. 27-54). Göttingen, Germany: Hogrefe.