Visiting Assistant Professor
Department of Psychology and Neuroscience
Education
Ph.D. Social Psychology, University of Connecticut
J.D. Hofstra University School of Law
MA/BS, Rhode Island College
About
Publications
Curley, C.M., Ott, A.N., *Nielsen, E., & *Henry, J. WYD?: Exploring the Potential
Emotional and Sexual Benefits of “Situationships” Journal of Sexual Medicine 9(4) 1163.
Curley, C. M., Johnson, B. T., & Rokos, E.K. (2026). Who benefits most from romantic
relationships and who bears the burdens? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, Jun
1;49:e98. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X25102720. PMID: 42222978.
Johnson, B. T., Jané, M. B., Curley, C. M., & Martinez-Berman, L. (2025). Study and
methodological quality. In K. Brown, M. Hagger, K. Hamilton, & S. Sutton (Eds.), Sage
Handbook of Health Psychology (2nd Ed.). London, UK: Sage.
Curley, C. M., & Johnson, B. T. (2022). Sexuality and aging: Is it time for a new sexual
revolution? Social Science & Medicine, 301, 114865. DOI:
10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.114865
Curley, C. M., Rosen, A. O., Mistler, C. B., & Eaton, L. A. (2022). Pleasure and PrEP: A
Systematic review of studies examining pleasure, sexual satisfaction, and PrEP. Journal
of Sex Research, 1–14. Advance online publication. DOI: 10. 1080/00224499. 2021.
2012638
Johnson, B. T., Martinez-Berman, L., & Curley, C. M. (2022). Formation of attitudes:
How people (wittingly or unwittingly) develop their viewpoints. Oxford Research
Encyclopedia of Psychology. DOI: 10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.812
Johnson, B. T., & Curley, C. M. (2021) Divining structural factors related to intervention
success or failure: Cultural sexism versus other macro-level factors. Clinical
Psychology: Science and Practice. 28(3), 313-316. DOI: 10.1037/cps0000037
Teaching Interests
About:
Before entering the field of psychology, I practiced law in Rhode Island for many years. I
returned to college in 2016 and I earned a Master’s Degree from Rhode Island College
and my doctorate from the University of Connecticut in Social Psychology.
I also co-hosted a podcast with her my daughter Shannon Curley, SexEd: Debunked on
Spotify, Amazon, and Apple platforms, which endeavored to “put to bed” myths about
sexuality, which was awarded AASECT’s Podcast Award in 2022.
https://www.buzzsprout.com/1853016.
Teaching Interests:
Social Psychology, Introductory Psychology, Close Relationships, Psychology of Human
Sexuality
Main Interests:
My research focuses on the association between positive sexuality and well-being
across the lifespan; casual relationships a/k/a “situationships” and well-being, body
appreciation and well-being outcomes, examining attitudes towards gender, sexual, and
relationship diversity, social norms, stereotypes and stigma, and individual and
community-level factors influencing health and well-being.
Other Interests:
Tennis, yoga, and walks in the woods or by the ocean. Listening and dancing to live
music of any kind is where I can generally be found in the evenings and on weekends.
Research Interests
I am presently working on several projects involving situationships and the extent to
which these casual relationships have positive or negative associations with well-being,
self-esteem, mental health and relationship satisfaction. I am also working on several
projects examining body appreciation and its association with various mental health and
self-esteem outcomes and in particular looking at the influence of participating in
nudist/naturist activities.
