Justin P. Brienza
Papers
2
Total Citations
18
H-Index
2
About
Justin P. Brienza is a social and personality psychologist whose research sits at a compelling intersection of self-regulation, social perception, and human nature. His most notable work explores a striking paradox in how people evaluate self-control: while high self-control is widely celebrated as a virtue, individuals who display it may pay an unexpected social cost. In his most cited research, "Determined Yet Dehumanized: People Higher in Self-Control Are Seen as More Robotic" (2022), Brienza and colleagues demonstrate that resistance to desire — though admired — can make people appear less fully human. Because vulnerability to temptation is seen as a fundamentally human quality, those who seem immune to it risk being perceived as machine-like, cold, or robotic. This work challenges simplistic assumptions about the benefits of self-control and opens important questions about how we attribute humanity to others. With citations accumulating across multiple versions of this paper, Brienza's findings have attracted growing scholarly attention. His research offers valuable insights for students and researchers interested in self-regulation, dehumanization, and the social consequences of appearing too disciplined or emotionally restrained.
Research Focus
Key Achievements
Top Papers
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