Christopher Falco, M.A.

PhD Student and Lab Manager

Christopher Falco, MA is a PhD student in applied social psychology at Claremont Graduate University, the manager of the Depression and Persuasion Research Lab, and an associate in the Physician Wellness Research Lab. Christopher’s research interests include persuasion, increasing help seeking for depression, psychological reactance theory, resident physician wellness, social norms, and emotional intensity. Christopher has recently coauthored chapters on psychological reactance theory for TheHandbook of Mental Health Communication and the Handbook of the Science of Existential Psychology and published a scale validation in Assessment. Christopher’s MA thesis on static and trending norms was recognized with Claremont Graduate University’s Exemplary Scientific Contribution Award. Christopher has experience in program evaluation, consulted on survey design for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, and teaches research methods at Chapman University. 

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Publications

Liu, X., Falco, C. M., Guldner, G., & Siegel, J. T. (2025). Psychometric properties of the Flourish Index and Secure Flourish Index in healthcare settings. Assessment. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1177/10731911241310312

Falco, C. M., & Rosenberg, B. D. (in press). Minimizing reactance to increase help seeking for depression. In J. T. Siegel & M. Yzer (Eds.), The handbook of mental health communication. Wiley.

Rosenberg, B. D., Coulson, T. B., II, Falco, C. M., & Siegel, J. T. (in press). Don’t tread on me: Freedom and reactance to autonomy threat. In K. Vail, D. V. Tongeren, B. Schegel, J. Greenberg, L. King, & R. Ryan (Eds.), Handbook of the science of existential psychology. Guilford Press.

Presentations

Falco, C. M., (2025, May 1–4). Can descriptive norms increase help seeking for depression? An empirical assessment of static and trending norm approaches. In J. T. Siegel (Chair), Depression, stigma, norms, and vested interest: Social psychological approaches for understanding and increasing help seeking among medical residents [Symposium]. Western Psychological Association 2025 Convention, Denver, CA, United States.

Falco, C. M., & Siegel, J. T. (2025, February 20–22). Can descriptive norms increase help seeking for depression? An empirical assessment of static and trending norms approaches [Poster presentation]. The Society for Personality and Social Psychology 2025 Annual Convention, Denver, CO, United States.

Gardner, S. E., Falco, C. M., & Crano, W. D. (2025, February 19). I’m extremely concerned about them: Using political identity and identity strength to predict the type of extremists individuals see as the most worrisome [Poster presentation]. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations Preconference, The Society for Personality and Social Psychology 2025 Annual Convention, Denver, CO, United States.

Guldner, G., Rigby, S., Menezes, S., Neufeld, A., Reese, T., & Falco, C. M. (2023, September 25–27). Autonomy and competence interventions [Panel]. Wellness Champions 2023 Program, Fernandina Beach, FL, United States.

Falco, C. M., (2024, May 23–26). Multiple perceived norms predict resident physicians’ likelihood of seeking help from mental health professionals for depression. In J. T. Siegel (Chair), Depression, stigma, norms, and vested interest: Social psychological approaches for understanding and increasing help seeking among medical residents [Symposium]. Association for Psychological Science 2024 Convention, San Francisco, CA, United States.

Falco, C. M. (2024, April 24–28). Multiple perceived norms predict resident physicians’ likelihood of seeking help from mental health professionals for depression. In J. T. Siegel (Chair), Increasing wellness of medical residents: Psychological contributions [Symposium]. Western Psychological Association 2024 Convention, San Francisco, CA, United States.

Kenney, C., Norris, K., Antolin-Wilczek, E., Falco, C. M., Buckley, T., & Rosenberg, B. D. (2024, April 24–28). Beyond a freedom threat: Expanding outcomes of psychological reactance [Poster presentation]. Western Psychological Association 2024 Convention, San Francisco, CA, United States.

Siegel, J. T., Carpenter, S., Carpenter, K., & Falco, C. M. (2024, April 4–6). Anti-stigma mental health public service announcements (PSAs): The good, the bad, and the unintended. In M. Yzer & J. T. Siegel (Chairs), Mental health communication: A burgeoning field [Symposium]. Kentucky Conference of Health Communication (Innovations of Health Communication), Lexington, KY, United States.

Antolin-Wilczek, E., Perales, C., Falco, C. M., Buckley, T., & Rosenberg, B. D. (2023, April 27–30). Morality and psychological reactance: The effect of elevation on responses to freedom threats [Poster presentation]. Western Psychological Association 2023 Convention, Riverside, CA, United States.

Siegel, J. T., & Falco, C. M. (2022, November 11). How can social psychology help those with depression and other mental illnesses? Society for Personality and Social Psychology 2022 Free Form Friday, online.

Falco, C. M., & Rosenberg, B. (2019, May 2). Ethical decision-making: An exploration [Poster presentation]. Chapman University 2019 Student Scholar Symposium, Orange, CA, United States.

Falco, C. M., & Rosenberg, B. D. (2019, April 25–28). Ethical decision-making: An exploration [Poster presentation]. Western Psychological Association 2019 Convention, Pasadena, CA, United States.

Estrada-Rand, N., Falco, C. M., Hannigan, T., Rosenberg, B. D., & Berardi, V. (2019, April 25–28). Encouraging stair usage, one step at a time [Poster presentation]. Western Psychological Association 2019 Convention, Pasadena, CA, United States.

Falco, C. M., & Rosenberg, B. D. (2018, December 5). An inquiry into ethical decision-making [Poster presentation]. Chapman University 2018 Student Scholar Symposium, Orange, CA, United States.