Robert M. Arkin (August 12, 1950 – December 12, 2016) (Ph.D., University of Southern California) was a social psychologist and member of the social psychology program faculty at Ohio State University. He was primarily known for his research on self-handicapping.[1]
Arkin’s research concerned the self in social interaction, with special emphasis on the uncertain self (self-doubt; self-handicapping and overachievement; personal security and insecurity in the post 9/11 era). Arkin developed the Subjective Overachievement Scale[2] in 2001 to tap feelings of self-doubt coupled with a performance outcome concerns. He was the editor of the books Most Underappreciated: 50 Prominent Social Psychologists Describe Their Most Unloved Work,[3] Handbook of the Uncertain Self (with co-editors Kathryn Oleson and Patrick Carroll),[4] and Handbook of Personal Security (with co-editors Patrick Carroll and Aaron Wichman).
Arkin was a member of the Society for Experimental Social Psychology.[5] Arkin served more than fourteen years as Associate Editor (Journal of Personality and Social Psychology; Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin) and Editor (Basic and Applied Social Psychology) of major journals in the discipline. Other honors include: The Middlebush Chair in Psychology (University of Missouri); serving as Undergraduate Dean (The Ohio State University); and several Department, University and national teaching awards, including the Psi Chi National Distinguished Speaker Award in 2001.[6]
Arkin’s Ohio State Faculty profile http://faculty.psy.ohio-state.edu/arkin/
Arkin’s Laboratory of the Uncertain Self http://www.uncertainself.osu.edu/
Arkin’s Social Psychology Network page http://arkin.socialpsychology.org/