Mary M. Tomkins, PhD
I am a social psychologist, researcher, and lecturer at the Department of Psychology and Philosophy at Sam Houston State University. My work sits at the intersection of social connectedness, well-being, and behavioral intervention design.
Research Interests
My core interest is social connectedness and belongingness — how people form and maintain a sense of connection, and how belonging-focused interventions can promote prosocial behavior and interpersonal thriving. I run an informal research lab at SHSU exploring these questions, currently in the design and background research stages.
I also have deep experience in behavioral intervention research, particularly for college student alcohol use, including multi-site randomized controlled trials funded by the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism (NIAAA). My dissertation and subsequent post-doctoral work examined how religious identity can be incorporated into brief alcohol interventions.
Other active interests include morality and virtue interventions, public service motivation, and identity under organizational stress. I am currently part of a multidisciplinary team developing an NSF grant application examining how federal workers navigate identity and purpose following forced separation from service.
Teaching
At SHSU I teach Research Methods, Psychological Statistics, Social Psychology, Personality, and History of Psychology. My courses consistently earn strong evaluations — averaging 4.5/5 across all students and sections.
Selected Publications
- Tomkins, M. M., Neighbors, C., Hernandez, M., & Quraishi, N. (2024). The association of religious drinking norms and college student drinking behaviors: Which ties bind the most? Psychology of Religion and Spirituality.
- Chavez, S. J., Hall, N. A., Tomkins, M. M., et al. (2025). Perceived belonging on campus predicts depression among heavy drinkers. Journal of American College Health.
- Tomkins, M. M., Wang, C., Weinstein, A. P., Neighbors, C., et al. (2023). Religion and drinking: Differences between two campuses. Alcohol.
- Neighbors, C., Tomkins, M. M., et al. (2021). Fluctuation in the sense of belongingness during college moderates within-person associations between perceived injunctive norms and subsequent drinking. Psychology of Addictive Behaviors.