Associate Professor of Psychology
Dr. Bissonnette earned his B.S. and a Ph.D. degrees at the University of Texas at Arlington. He started out in photojournalism and then came to major in psychology after taking several courses in the behavioral sciences.
Bissonnette's graduate mentors were Dr. William Ickes and Dr. Ira Bernstein. Working with them, they developed innovative research methodology and statistical analyses that were used in non-experimental and experimental research. After graduate school, he worked one year with Dr. Caryl Rusbult at the University of North Carolina. This work would lead to his interests in research and teaching involving intimate relationships.
Dr. Bissonnette came to Berry College after working for seven years at Southeastern Louisiana University. His personal research has involved some of the basic attitudes and behaviors experienced in intimate relationships and the development of statistical software used by students and instructors in basic statistics courses. Dr. Bissonnette's research with students has involved a variety of issues related to empathy, prosocial behavior, morality and the “dark-triad” personality traits.
Education
- Ph.D., University of Texas at Arlington
- B.A., University of Texas at Arlington
Teaching Interests
- Social and Personality Psychology
- Intimate Relationships
- Research Methods and Statistics
- The History of Psychology
Field Experience
- Associate Professor, Berry College (2006-Present)
- Assistant Professor, Southeastern Louisiana University (1993-2000)
- Postdoctoral Research Fellow, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (1992-1993)
Selected Publications
- Ketterman, A., & Bissonnette, V. (2019). Does It Matter Who is Watching? Altruism as a Costly Signal. Poster presented at the 31st annual convention of the Association of Psychological Science, May 23-26, Washington, D.C.
- Ketterman, A., & Bissonnette, V. (2019). Does Empathy Mediate the Relationship Between the Dark Triad Traits and Altruism? Poster presented at the 31st annual convention of the Association of Psychological Science, May 23-26, Washington, D.C.
- Bennett, G., Bissonnette, V., & Canote, K. (2016). Take me as I am: The morality and self-image of the Dark Triad Personality. Poster presented at the 28th annual convention of the Association of Psychological Science, May 26-29, Chicago, Illinois.
- Cowart, E., Bissonnette, V. (2015). A study in self-concept and dispositional aggression. Poster presented at the 61st annual convention of the Southeastern Psychological Association, March 18-21, Hilton Head, South Carolina.
- Haney, M., & Bissonnette, V. (2011). Teachers’ perceptions about the use of play to facilitate development and teach prosocial skills. Creative Education, 2, 41-46.
- Butzen, N.D., Bissonnette, V., & McBrayer, D. (2005). The effects of modeling and topic stimulus on self-referent touching. Perceptual and Motor Skills, 101, 413-420.
- Haney, M., Bissonnette, V., & Behnken, K. (2003). The relationship among name writing and early literacy skills in kindergarten children. Child Study Journal, 33, 99-115.
- Kilpatrick, S., Bissonnette, V., & Rusbult, C. (2002). Empathic accuracy among newly married couples. Personal Relationships, 9, 369-393.