Education
Ph.D. (2011), Psychology (Lifespan Development), Brock University
Thesis: Exploring the Development and Psychosocial Correlates of Spirituality/Religiosity across Adolescence
M.Sc. (2006), Family Relations and Human Development. University of Guelph
Thesis: The Moderating Effect of Identity Style on the Relation between Adolescent Problem Behavior and Quality of Psychosocial Functioning
B.A. (2004), Child and Youth Studies, Brock University
Courses
- Research Methods: Statistics (PSY-201)
- Honours Thesis I (PSY-495)
- Honours Thesis II (PSY-496)
About
Marie started working at Redeemer in July of 2014. She is a developmental psychologist who is fascinated by the role that spiritual and religious beliefs play in the social, emotional, and physical well-being of adolescents and young adults. In her doctoral work in Brock University’s Adolescent Development Lab, she focused examining on the difference between “religiosity” and “spirituality”, particularly in terms of how they are differentially related to emotional well-being and engagement in risky activities (e.g., substance use). Her doctoral finding that religiosity (but not spirituality) tended to predict lower engagement in alcohol use, led to a postdoctoral fellowship in the Social Neuroscience Lab at the University of Toronto, where she studied cognitive and neural mechanisms that may help explain why religious adolescents drink less than their non-religious peers. She has published her findings in journals such as Developmental Psychology, Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, Religion Brain and Behavior, and Journal of Youth and Adolescence. With collaborators at Brock University and University of Guelph, she has also dabbled in research on general risk-taking and mental health in adolescence. For example, she has published work on identity development; the functions of non-suicidal self-injury; the relation between violent video games and aggression; and the association between depression and risk-taking behaviours.
Research Interests
- Spiritual and religious development, particularly among adolescents and emerging adults
- The differential roles of spirituality versus religion in the psychosocial adjustment of adolescents and emerging adults
- Risk-taking and mental health in adolescents and emerging adults
- Religion’s effects on self-control and desire
- The effect of religion on cognitive and neural mechanisms involved in well-being and self-control
Recent Publications
Willoughby, T., Heffer, T., Good, M., & Magnacca, C. (2021). Is adolescence a time of heightened risk taking? An overview of types of risk-taking behaviors across age groups. Developmental Review, 61, 1000980.
Good, M., & Willoughby, T. (2013). Institutional and personal spirituality/religiosity and psychosocial adjustment in adolescence: Concurrent and longitudinal associations. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 43(5).
Good, M., Willoughby, T. & Busseri, M.A. (2011). Stability and change in adolescent spirituality/religiosity: A person-centered approach. Developmental Psychology, 47, 538-550.
Good, M., & Willoughby, T. (2008). Adolescence as a sensitive period for spiritual development. Child Development Perspectives, 2, 32-37.
Inzlicht, M., Tullett, A. M., & Good, M. (2011). The need to believe: A neuroscience account of religion as a motivated process. Religion, Brain, & Behavior, 1, 192-212.
Willoughby, T., Good, M., Adachi, P. J. C., Hamza, C., & Tavernier, R. (2013). Examining the link between adolescent brain development and risk taking from a social-developmental perspective. Brain and Cognition, 83, 315-323.
Hamza, C. A., Willoughby, T. & Good, M. (2013). A preliminary examination of the specificity of the functions of nonsuicidal self-injury among a sample of university students. Psychiatry Research, 205, 172-175.
