Interests

Teaching

My approach to teaching has been that there isn't any course I wouldn't attempt to teach at least once! I am very willing to challenge myself in the classroom by constantly invigorating my teaching approach and style with various techniques and strategies. My interests in particular courses have changed through the years as I find more and more of a passion to teach courses that provide students opportunities for hands-on experiences, such as social psychology, research methods, learning and behavior change, and principles of college teaching.

If I were to develop a new course, it would be one that combined social psychology and learning and behavior. I would call it, "Experimental Social Behavior", and students would conduct experimental research focusing on the impact of social, environmental, and cultural influences on social behavior, within the context of social learning theories.

Research

I have focused on acculturation issues among Southeast Asian immigrant children and parents, as well as social cognition and body image in past research. In particular, my master's thesis was an ethnographic study of Vietnamese adolescents and young adults in Nebraska and their cultural experiences. For my doctoral dissertation, I studied perceiver and target variables and their effects on perception of body image of figures. For that research I utilized computer enhanced images to create visual stimuli and varied these figures on size, ethnicity, and gender.

However, my current interests have been on academic procrastination and social factors that affect students' academic behaviors. I believe that many social and environmental factors are significant influences on students' behaviors, more so than individual personality types or motivational styles. Additionally, my research typically involves experimental or quasi-experimental designs.

Furthermore, I am interested in helping undergraduate and graduate students pursue their various research interests by assisting them in poster presentations, paper publications, and dissertation work.

Advising

I also serve as faculty advisor to our ULV chapter of Psi Chi, National Honor Society in Psychology. Our chapter has grown tremendously, not only in membership but in scope and dedication. Our main goal for Psi Chi each year is to increase awareness of the organization through various social and educational events offered free to all students on campus. Additionally, we hope to continue the tradition of assisting students to attend and present at regional and national research conferences. Finally, Psi Chi hopes to serve as a resource for students pursuing graduate education and careers in the profession.

Representative Publications

Bui, N. (2007). Effect of evaluation threat on procrastination behavior. The Journal of Social Psychology, 147(3), 197-209.
Bui, N. (2007, May). Turning student research into conference presentations. CUPP-Psi Chi joint symposium presented at the 87th Annual Western Psychological Association Convention, Vancouver, BC, Canada.
Bui, N. Alfaro, M., Olthius, J., & Zamboanga, B.L. (2007, June). Religious activities and student involvement on tendencies for alcohol abuse. Poster session presented at the 11th Biennial Society for Community Research and Action Conference, Pasadena, CA.
Bui, N., Padilla, A.A., & Kruse, J.M. (2007, August). Ethnicity, gender, and body size on social perception: Effects of target and perceiver variables. Poster session presented at the 115th Annual American Psychological Association Convention, San Francisco, CA.

Contact Information

University of La Verne
Psychology Department
Hoover 216
1950 Third Street
La, Verne, CA 91750
909-593-3511 ext. 4099
buin@ulv.edu
Personal Website: http://faculty.ulv.edu/~buin/