Samuel Dias
Profile
I’m a psychology student, researcher and communicator. At the Relationships & Well-Being Lab at the University of Toronto Mississauga, I study how couples communicate and support each other. My background in art and design shapes how I share that work: through writing and visuals that make research clear and useful beyond academia.
Selected work
The Shape of Support
What makes support feel effective in a relationship, and how does that change when one partner is neurodivergent? This study explores how communication unfolds in these couples. We sought to understand whether partners’ needs for autonomy, competence, and closeness were met, and what helped make that possible. Comparing how partners listened, communicated, and offered touch, we found the strongest predictor was feeling that one’s partner took their perspective and made an effort to understand them.
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The Pod Experiment
When it comes to dating, many people see their type as fixed, as if attraction were set in stone early in life and never changed. This study examines whether believing attraction can change makes people more open to considering different partners. Participants are primed with one of two framings: attraction is either fixed or shaped by experience. They then interact with a fictional dating app, allowing us to compare how each framing influences their preferences.
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