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Christina Winters

Postdoctoral Researcher

TLS: Tilburg Law School
TLS: TILT

C.L.Winters@tilburguniversity.edu Room M 708

Bio

I'm a postdoctoral researcher at Tilburg Institute for Law, Technology, and Society (TLS) and part of the Dutch cross-university Dutch Digital Legal Lab. I have a background in forensic and clinical psychology, sociology, and intelligence analysis. My current research is focused on the relationship between identity formation and maintenance and individuals' needs for privacy, and how this relationship affects Big Data users approaches to and strategies for self-disclosure. My past research has focused on contextual and interpersonal influences on self-disclosure in pre-employment security vetting and psychometric instrument validation. I've also worked as a therapist in correctional institutions in the US.

Expertise

My background in forensic psychology ethics, public policy and international security led to my interest in individual differences and identity-based work concerning sensitive disclosures. My former research has focused on how contextual and interpersonal influences on sensitive self-disclosure in stranger-dyads. My current research is focused on identity formation and maintenance on social media. In particular, I'm interested in individuals with concealed stigmatized identities and the mechanism of trust in Big Data, between individuals' needs for self-expression and privacy. Further, my research explores how people use social media for narrative co-construction, including the role of intentional documentation and engagement as a mechanism of self-continuity (e.g., nostalgia and psychological adjustment to the perceived future self). I'm also interested in psychosocial mechanisms that encourage exceptional online disclosure about the self and close others.