Randy McCarthy

Research Interests

I am a social psychologist who studies “everyday” prosocial behaviors, the small acts of kindness that help people stay connected. These include thank‑yous, compliments, supportive gestures, and especially apologies. My work focuses on why these behaviors matter, why they sometimes go unspoken, and how they shape ordinary social life.

My research program has two main aims:

1. Understanding why people behave prosocially
   I study why people choose to express apologies, gratitude, compliments, and other simple acts of goodwill. I am particularly interested in apologies: how people decide whether to offer them, why doing so can be hard, and how recipients interpret them.
2. How people explain interpersonal transgressions
   I examine how people use “folk explanations” to interpret everyday interpersonal transgressions, including whether they view a behavior as accidental, mean-spirited, or justified. These explanations also guide their willingness to apologize and how they want others to understand their behavior.

Commonly-Taught Courses 

• Advanced Research Methods
• Social and Personality Psychology Lab 
• Research Ethics and Professional Issues in Organizations
• Social Cognition
• Experimental Social Psychology

Representative Publications and Presentations

• McCarthy, R. J. & Shupack, T. (2025). Trait agreeableness is associated with positive responses to sincere apologies, but not insincere ones. Journal of Psychology. Registered Report with In-Principle Acceptance
• McCarthy, R. J. (2026, April). Self-affirmations increase the likelihood of apologizing. A presentation at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
• McCarthy, R. J. & Shupack, T. (2025). Testing Whether, an Why, Apologizers Underestimate the Positive Impact of Their Apologies. Collabra: Psychology. Registered Report with In-Principle Acceptance
• Heinlein, S. & McCarthy, R. J. (2025, April). Student’s perceptions of help-seeking. A presentation at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
• Schupack, T. & McCarthy, R. J. (2025, April). Why didn’t you tell me? I thought we were close. A presentation at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
• Wilson, J.E. & McCarthy, R. J. (2025). Cues and clues: How humor targets classify joker intents. Psychological Reports. https://doi.org/10.1177/003329412513773
• Heinlein, S, Saef, R. & McCarthy, R. J. (2024, April). Associating agreeableness with emotional/decisional forgiveness, perceived sincerity as moderator. A presentation at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
• Wilson, J. & McCarthy, R. J. (2024, April). Be big and belittle yourself: Status and self-disparaging humor. A presentation at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
• Schupack, T. & McCarthy, R. J. (2024, April). Just take a break. How self-distancing promotes desires for apologies. A presentation at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
• Wilson, J. E. & McCarthy, R. J. (2023, April). Joking down vs. joking up: Humor Target’s Evaluations of Jokers. A presentation at the annual meeting of the Midwestern Psychological Association, Chicago, IL.
• McCarthy, R. J. & Wilson, J. P. (2023). Perpetrators’ and Victims’ Folk Explanations of Aggressive Behaviors and Desires for Apologies. Collabra: Psychology, 9(1), 84918. https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.84918
• McCarthy, R. J. (2023). Do perpetrators and victims rely on different information when judging whether aggressive behaviors are justified? Aggressive Behavior. https://doi.org/10.1002/ab.22102
• McCarthy, R. J. & Wilson, J. P. (in press). Perpetrators’ Folk Explanations of Their Regretted and Justified Aggressive Behaviors. The Journal of Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2023.2186830
• McCarthy, R. J., Jensen, A. P., Wilson, J. P., & Rivers, A. K. (2022). Perpetrators’, Victims’, and Witnesses’ Folk Explanations of Aggressive Behaviors. Psychological reports, 00332941221123781.
• McCarthy, R. J., Rivers, A. K., Jensen, A. P., Pawirosetiko, J. S., & Erickson, J. M. (2022). Is the victim-perpetrator asymmetry stronger in situations where blame is being assigned?. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 101, 104333.
• McCarthy, R. J., Erickson, J. M., Hu, X., Pawirosetiko, J. S., Tarleton, H. L., Thomas, C. L., Tillery, M. G., & Sagarin, B. J. (2021). Broad agreement, but notes of caution with the implications of Sakaluk's (2020) critique of Wisman and Shrira (2020). Archives of Sexual Behavior, 50, 773-777. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10508-021-01929-6
• McCarthy, R. J., & Rivers, A. K. (2021). Does trait hostility moderate the asymmetry in victim-perpetrator perceptions of aggressive behaviors? Psychological Reports. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0033294120984123
• McCarthy, R. J., Gervais, W., Aczel, B., Al-Kire, R. L., Baraldo S. M., Baruh L., Basch, C., Baumert, A., Behler, A., Bettencourt, A., Bitar, A., Bouxom, H., Buck, A., Cemalcilar, Z., Chekroun, P., Chen, J. M., del Fresno- Díaz, A., Ducham, A, Edlund, J. E.,…Zogmaister, C. (2021). A multi-site collaborative study of the hostile priming effect. Collabra: Psychology, 7, 18738. https://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.18738
• McCarthy, R.  J., Skowronski, J. J., Verschuere, B., Meijer, E. H., Jim, A., Hoogesteyn, K., Orthey, R., …. Yildiz, E. (2018). Registered Replication Report: Srull & Wyer (1979). Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 1(3), 321-336. https://doi.org/10.1177/2515245918777487