TRI-Lab

We are The University of Akron's Transitions, Resilience, and Identity Lab.
[email protected]

Current Projects

NEW: We are currently seeking bisexual women ages 50 and up who are fluent in English to take a virtual survey on identity salience. The survey takes participants an average of 20 minutes to complete. You can access the survey here.If you would like to be contacted when future research takes place, please consider signing up for our mailing list.

Lab Publications

Bisconti, T. L., Vale, M. T., & Trunko, A. (revise and resubmit). Health and well-being in queer older adults: Overcoming a lifetime of stigma. In M. Lachman, & A. Sprio (Eds.), S. Charles, S. Neupert (Associate Eds), American Psychological Association handbook of adult development and aging. American Psychological Association.Frey, K. T., & Bisconti, T. L. (in press). Older, entitled, & extremely out-of-touch: Does “OK, Boomer” signify the emergence of a new older adult stereotype? Journal of Applied Gerontology. https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648231154044Sublett, J. F., & Bisconti, T. L. (in press). Metamemory and self-compassion as protective factors in the relationship between benevolent ageism and environmental mastery. Journal of Applied Gerontology. https://doi.org/10.1177/07334648231163847Sublett, J.F., Vale, M. T., & Bisconti, T. L. (2021). Expanding benevolent ageism: Replicating attitudes of overaccommodation to older men. Experimental Aging Research. https://doi.org/10.1080/0361073X.2021.1968666Vale, M. T., & Bisconti T. L. (2021). Minority stress and relationship well–being in sexual minorities: The varying role of outness on relationship and sexual satisfaction. International Journal of Sexual Health. 1-15. https://doi.org/10.1080/19317611.2021.1909684Vale, M. T., & Bisconti T. L. & (2020). Age differences in sexual minority stress and the importance of friendship in later life. Clinical Gerontologist. https://doi.org/10.1080/07317115.2020.1836107Vale, M., Bisconti, T. L., & Sublett, J. F. (2019). Benevolent ageism: Attitudes of overaccommodative behavior towards older women. Journal of Social Psychology, 1-11. https://doi.org/10.1080/00224545.2019.1695567Bisconti, T. L. (April, 2019). Can you really simulate aging, and more importantly, should you? Teaching Tips from Adult Development and Aging News, American Psychological Association. https://www.apadivisions.org/division-20/publications/newsletters/adult-development/2019/04/empathy-elderly


Dr. Toni Bisconti
Lab Supervisor

Dr. Bisconti’s research interests include topics such as ageism, minority stress in older adults, experiences of discrimination, and diversity-related education. Her work has appeared in leading journals such as the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Basic and Applied Social Psychology, Psychology and Aging, and the Journals of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences.


Adara Turek
Lab Manager

Adara is a fourth year PhD student and lab manager of the TRI-Lab. Her research interests are older bisexual women, minority stress, binegativity, and identity salience. She is currently conducting research on how bisexual women differ in identity salience across age cohorts.


Aimee Trunko

Aimee is a sixth year PhD student. Her research interests include transgender older adults, late life gender transition, and social support. She is currently writing up results from a study of depressive symptomatology and late life transitions in older transgender adults. She is drafting further work on this population for her doctoral dissertation.


Dom Hritsko

Dom is a first year PhD student.