Andrea Mariani, a third-year doctoral student in Counseling Psychology, has won the Lindsey M. Bonistall Research Fellowship from PEACE OUTside Campus. 

The fellowship funding will allow Mariani to conduct two studies aimed at testing the validity of the philosophical construct of “himpathy,” a construct first described by academic philosopher Kate Manne that refers to excessive sympathy extended to certain male perpetrators of sexual assault. According to Mariani, this construct has never been tested in psychological research and has potentially big implications if found to be valid. 

“I have always had an interest in understanding the development of violent behavior, but it wasn’t until I stumbled in my free time upon Dr. Manne’s book Down Girl: The Logic of Misogyny that I became interested in how we view, perceive, and judge violent behavior: sexual violence in this case,” Mariani added.

Mariani acknowledged and thanked two great mentors who have inspired and taught him so much: “Firstly, I am grateful to my former mentor, Dr. Mary Waldron, for taking me under her wing as a first-year doctoral student, for teaching me invaluable quantitative research skills, as well as academic writing skills, and most of all for encouraging and fostering my development as a researcher. Secondly, I am grateful to my current mentor, Dr. Zoë Peterson, for the incredible support and guidance she has been providing, and for allowing me to propose (and conduct!) one research project after the other.”

“Finally, I am extremely appreciative of the trust that the Board of Directors at The Lindsey M. Bonistall Foundation have placed in this project and am hopeful to repay them with meaningful results.”