Staff profile

Stephanie Lichtenfeld is an Honorary Fellow at the School of Education, Durham University. She received her PhD (2008) in Psychology from Ludwig Maximilian University (LMU) Munich, Germany. She held a senior lecturer position at the LMU as well as a postdoctoral position at the University of Rochester, NY before joining Durham University in 2017.

Stephanie’s research focuses primarily on motivation and emotion specifically in the academic domain. She is interested in antecedents and outcomes of emotions, emotion regulation, and the interplay between emotions, motivation, and achievement. In addition, she is interested in the topic of forgiveness.

• Emotion
• Emotion Regulation
• Motivation
• Elementary School Students
• Wellbeing
• Forgiveness

Authored book

• Lichtenfeld, S. & Stupnisky, R.H. (2013). Elementary school students' achievement emotions: Influences of gender and relations to motivation and achievement. Hauppauge, NY: Nova Science Publishers.

Journal Article

• Tracey, D., Morin, A.J.S., Pekrun, R., Arens, A.K., Marayama, K., Litchenfeld, S., Frenzel, A.C., Goetz, T. & Maiano,C. (2020). Mathematics Motivation in Students with Low Cognitive Ability: A Longitudinal Study of Motivation and Relations with Effort, Self-Regulation, and Grades. American Journal on Intellectual and Developmental Disabilities 125(2): 125-147.
• Thorstenson, C., Pazda, A. & Lichtenfeld, S. (2020). Facial blushing influences perceived embarrassment and related social functional evaluations. Cognition and Emotion 34(3): 413-426.
• Lichtenfeld, S., Maier, M., Buechner, V. & Fernández Capo, M. (2019). The Influence of Decisional and Emotional Forgiveness on Attributions. Frontiers in Psychology 10: 1425.
• Ringeisen, T., Lichtenfeld, S., Becker,S. & Minkley, Nina (2019). Stress experience and performance during an oral exam: the role of self-efficacy, threat appraisals, anxiety, and cortisol. Anxiety, Stress, & Coping 32(1): 50-66.
• Raccanello, D., Brondino, M., Moè, M., Stupnisky, R.H. & Lichtenfeld, S. (2019). Enjoyment, Boredom, Anxiety in Elementary Schools in Two Domains: Relations with Achievement. The Journal of Experimental Education 87(3): 449-469.
• Lichtenfeld, S., Maier, M.A., Buechner, V.L. & Elliot, A.J. (2018). Ambient Green and Creativity. Creativity Research Journal 30(3): 305-309.
• Buechner, Vanessa L., Pekrun, Reinhard & Lichtenfeld, Stephanie (2018). The Achievement Pride Scales (APS). European Journal of Psychological Assessment 34(3): 181-192.
• Katrin, A., Marsh, H.W., Pekrun, R., Lichtenfeld, S., Murayama, K. & Vom Hofe, R. (2017). Math self-concept, grades, and achievement test scores: Long-term reciprocal effects across five waves and three achievement tracks. Journal of Educational Psychology 109(5): 621-634.
• Marsh, H.W., Pekrun, R., Parker, P.D., Murayama, K., Guo, J., Dicke, T. & Lichtenfeld, S. (2017). Long-term positive effects of repeating a year in school: Six-year longitudinal study of self-beliefs, anxiety, social relations, school grades, and test scores. Journal of Educational Psychology 109(3): 425-438.
• Pekrun, R., Lichtenfeld, S., Marsh, H.W., Murayama, K. & Goetz, T. (2017). Achievement Emotions and Academic Performance: Longitudinal Models of Reciprocal Effects. Child Development 88(5): 1653-1670.
• Elliot, A.J., Aldhobaiban, N., Kobeisy, A., Murayama, K., Gocłowska, M.A., Lichtenfeld, S. & Khayat, A. (2016). Linking social interdependence preferences to achievement goal adoption. Learning and Individual Differences 50: 291-295.
• Marsh, H.W., Pekrun, R., Lichtenfeld, S., Guo, J., Arens, A.K. & Murayama, K. (2016). Breaking the double-edged sword of effort/trying hard: Developmental equilibrium and longitudinal relations among effort, achievement, and academic self-concept. Developmental Psychology 52(8): 1273-1290.
• Balaguer, A., Monforte-Royo, C., Porta-Sales, J., Alonso-Babarro, A., Altisent, R., Aradilla-Herrero, A., Bellido-Pérez, M., Breitbart, W., Centeno, C., Cuervo, M.A., Deliens, L., Frerich, G., Gastmans, C., Lichtenfeld, S., Limonero, J.T., Maier, M.A., Materstvedt, L.J., Nabal, M., Rodin, G., Rosenfeld, B., Schroepfer, T., Tomás-Sábado, J., Trelis, J., Villavicencio-Chávez, C. & Voltz, R. (2016). An international consensus definition of the wish to hasten death and its related factors. PLoS ONE 11(1): e0146184.
• Murayama, K., Pekrun, R., Suzuki, M., Marsh, H.W. & Lichtenfeld, S. (2016). Don’t aim too high for your kids: Parental overaspiration undermines students’ learning in mathematics. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology 111(5): 766-779.
• Stupnisky, R.H., Pekrun, R. & Lichtenfeld, S. (2016). New faculty members' emotions: a mixed-method study†. Studies in Higher Education 41(7): 1167-1188.
• Lichtenfeld, S., Buechner, V.L., Maier, M.A. & Fernández-Capo, M. (2015). Forgive and forget: Differences between decisional and emotional forgiveness. PLoS ONE 10(5): e0125561.
• Kuhbandner, C., Spitzer, B., Lichtenfeld, S. & Pekrun, R. (2015). Differential binding of colors to objects in memory: Red and yellow stick better than blue and green. Frontiers in Psychology 6: 231.
• Buechner, V.L., Maier, M.A., Lichtenfeld, S. & Elliot, A.J. (2015). Emotion Expression and Color: Their Joint Influence on Perceived Attractiveness and Social Position. Current Psychology 34(2): 422-433.
• Kuhbandner, C., Vogel, C.M. & Lichtenfeld, S. (2015). Switching from approach to withdrawal is easier than vice versa. Cognition and Emotion 29(7): 1168-1184.
• Elliot, A., Murayama, K., Kobeisy, A. & Lichtenfeld, S. (2015). Potential-based achievement goals. British Journal of Educational Psychology 85(2): 192-206.
• Buechner, V.L., Maier, M.A., Lichtenfeld, S. & Schwarz, S. (2014). Red - Take a closer look. PLoS ONE 9(9): e108111.
• Maier, M.A., Elliot, A.J., Lee, B., Lichtenfeld, S., Barchfeld, P. & Pekrun, R. (2013). The influence of red on impression formation in a job application context. Motivation and Emotion 37(3): 389-401.
• Murayama, K., Pekrun, R., Lichtenfeld, S. & vom Hofe, R. (2013). Predicting long-term growth in students' mathematics achievement: The unique contributions of motivation and cognitive strategies. Child Development 84(4): 1475-1490.
• Lichtenfeld, S., Elliot, A.J., Maier, M.A. & Pekrun, R. (2012). Fertile Green: Green Facilitates Creative Performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 38(6): 784-797.
• Lichtenfeld, S., Pekrun, R., Stupnisky, R.H., Reiss, K. & Murayama, K. (2012). Measuring students' emotions in the early years: The Achievement Emotions Questionnaire-Elementary School (AEQ-ES). Learning and Individual Differences 22(2): 190-201.
• Kuhbandner, C., Lichtenfeld, S. & Pekrun, R. (2011). Always Look on the Broad Side of Life: Happiness Increases the Breadth of Sensory Memory. Emotion 11(4): 958-964.
• Elliot, A.J., Niesta Kayser, D., Greitemeyer, T., Lichtenfeld, S., Gramzow, R.H., Maier, M.A. & Liu, H. (2010). Red, Rank, and Romance in women viewing men. Journal of Experimental Psychology: General 139(3): 399-417.
• Lichtenfeld, S., Maier, M.A., Elliot, A.J. & Pekrun, R. (2009). The semantic red effect: Processing the word red undermines intellectual performance. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology 45(6): 1273-1276.
• Maier, M.A., Elliot, A.J. & Lichtenfeld, S. (2008). Mediation of the negative effect of red on intellectual performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin 34(11): 1530-1540.