April Bleske-Rechek

Invited Talks and Lectures

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2026, April 4). How Do Men and Women Differ? Let Us Count the Ways. Invited address to be given at the annual conference of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society, Pittsburgh, PA.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2026, Feb. 25). Can We Nurture Civil Dialogue at UWEC? Lessons Learned From Our Students. Speaker, UWEC Faculty Forum.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2026, Feb. 17). Values and the Cultivation of Happiness. Guest lectures on values and intentional activities with UWEC interdisciplinary studies students.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2026, Feb. 16). The Pursuit of Equity and Excellence: Demographic Trends in Advanced Placement Exam Participation and Performance. Presenter, Vanderbilt University Quantitative Methods Colloquium Series, Nashville, TN.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2025, Nov. 13). Dialogue and Disagreement in the Classroom. Session presenter with Noreen Lape at the Council of Independent Colleges’ Leadership Symposium on Civil Discourse, Atlanta, GA.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2025, August 20). Building a Culture of Civil Dialogue at UWEC. Session leader at the Menard Center for Constitutional Studies’ Free Expression Workshop for Instructors.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2025, June 5). A Case for Excellence over Equity: Sex and Race Differences in Cognitive Test Scores. Heterodox Social Science Inaugural Conference, University of Buckingham, UK.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2025, March 4). On How We Respond to Challenge. Guest lectures on responding to challenge with a mastery-oriented mindset to UWEC IDIS students.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2025, January 10). Inclinations to Censor and Self-Censor: Data from Students in Wisconsin. Invited panelist, Censorship in the Sciences: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, University of Southern California.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2024, October 14). Staying Sane in the Academy. Invited speaker and discussion leader, UWEC McNair Scholars.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2024, March 5). On How We Respond to Challenge. Guest lectures on responding to challenge with a mastery-oriented mindset to UWEC IDIS students.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2023, March 6). Intrasexual Competition in Young Women’s Friendships. Invited presenter and discussant, State University of New York Evolutionary Studies Seminar Series.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2022, Oct. 27). Data that Call for Action: Predictors of Burnout and Engagement Among UWEC Faculty and Instructional Staff. Invited speaker to the United Faculty and Academic Staff of UWEC.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2015, February). Attractiveness and rivalry in women’s friendships with women. Paper presented at the annual convention of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Long Beach, CA.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2011, August). A Primer on Evolutionary Psychology: Foundational Ideas, Exemplary Research, and Criticisms. Invited Lee Gurel Lecture to Teachers of Psychology in Secondary Schools, annual convention of the American Psychological Association, Washington, DC. [PDF]

Conference Papers, Panels, and Symposia

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2025, January). Building a culture of civil discourse, one conversation at a time. Symposium with Matthew Pollard (Unify America) and Josh Young (Miami Dade College) at the annual convention of the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), Washington, DC.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2025, January). Using technology to engage across differences. Panel presentation with Sara Drury (Wabash College), Michael Murray (Arthur Vining Davis Foundations), Josh Young (Miami Dade College), and Emily Stacey (Rose State College) at the annual convention of the American Association of Colleges and Universities (AAC&U), Washington, DC.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2024, October). Promoting students’ engagement in civil dialogue: A pilot study and randomized controlled trial. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Faculty Network of the Foundation for Individual Rights in Education (FIRE), Boston, MA.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2024, August). Causal claims: Considerations for instruction. Paper presented at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association (Division 15–Educational Psychology), Seattle, WA.

Bleske-Rechek, A., Dobson, R. T., Lay, P. S., Witthun, K. B., Johnson, W. N., & Bernstein, M. H. (2024, April). Women and men, harm and censoriousness: Sex-differentiated reactions to information about sex differences. Paper presented at the annual conference of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society, Niagara Falls, NY.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2023, July). Trends in Advanced Placement participation and performance, 1996-2022. Paper presented at the annual meeting of the International Society for Intelligence Research, Berkeley, CA.

Bleske-Rechek, A., & Bernstein, M. H. (2023, February). Some sex differences are more problematic than others. Presented at the first annual conference of the Society for Open Inquiry in the Behavioral Sciences, Atlanta, GA.

Bernstein, M. H., & Bleske-Rechek, A. L. (2023, February). Would people agree with Hitler when his statements are directed against Whites instead of Jews? Presented at the first annual conference of the Society for Open Inquiry in the Behavioral Sciences, Atlanta, GA.

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2022, August). Seeing the numbers: Predictive validity of the GRE. Data-blitz presentation at the annual convention of the American Psychological Association (Division 05), Minneapolis, MN.

Poster Presentations

Sheeley, I., Kelsey, L., Davidsaver, T., Hermann, F., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2025, June). Gossip with a purpose: Strategic sharing of reputation-harming information about a mating rival. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society, Atlantic City, NJ.

Huevler, A., Bleske-Rechek, A., Bernstein, M., & Baird, G. (2025, June). Some sex differences are more problematic than others: Men’s and women’s attitudes about male-dominated and female-dominated jobs. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society, Atlantic City, NJ.

Kelsey, L., Huevler, A., Quam, E., Nelson, H. D., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2025, June). Are we all liars? Deception in friendship. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society, Atlantic City, NJ.

Jones, L. L., Brunell, A. B., Bleske-Rechek, A., Bowman, N. N., & Smith, S. L. (2023, July). Self-esteem and workplace achievement motivation: Gender and cohort differences. Poster presented at the 8th biennial meeting of the Association for Research in Personality, Evanston, IL.

Lay, P. S., Dobson, R. T., Witthun, K. B., Bernstein, M. H., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2022). Shoot the messenger: Effects of messenger gender identity on men’s and women’s reactions to information about evolved differences between the sexes. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society (NEEPS), Pittsburgh, PA. [Poster]

Witthun, K. B., Dobson, R. T., Lay, P. S., Bernstein, M. H., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2022). Who has credibility? Effects of messenger cis/trans identity on reactions to controversial information about transgender issues. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society (NEEPS), Pittsburgh, PA. [Poster]

Dobson, R. T., Johnson, W. N., Witthun, K. B., Bernstein, M. H., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2022). Reactions to controversial information about racism in policing as a function of messenger identity and news platform. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society (NEEPS), Pittsburgh, PA. [Poster]

Witthun, K. B., Dobson, R. T., Johnson, W. N., Bernstein, M. H., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2022). Does lived experience trump medical expertise? Factors that predict reactions to controversial information about antidepressants. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society (NEEPS), Pittsburgh, PA. [Poster]

Wieden, T. R., McBeath, K. M., Koeper, S. M., Rosas, A., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2022). Overwhelmed and overprescribed? College students’ experiences seeking help for mental health concerns. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society (NEEPS), Pittsburgh, PA. [Poster]

Johnson, W. N., Hernandez, M. A., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2022). From vigilance to violence online: Personality and mate value as predictors of engaging in negative cyber mate retention behaviors. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society (NEEPS), Pittsburgh, PA. [Poster]

Bleske-Rechek, A., Bernstein, M. H., & Lay, P. S. (2022). Some sex differences are more problematic than others: Perceptions of male and female over-representation in low- and high-paying jobs. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society (NEEPS), Pittsburgh, PA. [Poster]

Bleske-Rechek, A., Lay, P., Dobson, R., & Witthun, K. (2021, May). Shoot the messenger: Changes in evaluations of scientific information as a function of messenger identity. Poster presented at the 33rd Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science (Virtual). [PDF]

Erdman, B., Hernandez, M., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2021, May). Perceptions of profanity: The complexities of category and context. Poster presented at the 33rd Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science (Virtual). [PDF]

Wagener, E., Peterson, J., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2021, May). What’s worse: Lazy but smart, or stupid but hardworking? Gender differences in mate preferences and aversions. Poster presented at the 33rd Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science (Virtual). [PDF]

Badenhorst, S., Seyoum, E., Nguyen, E., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2020, May). Hurt feelings: The role of receivers’ personality in emotional reactions to others’ words. Poster presented at the 28th annual University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Celebration of Excellence in Research and Creative Activity. [PDF]

BeBeau, H., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2020, May). Does knowing the outcome change our view? Hindsight bias in suicide. Poster presented at the 28th annual University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Celebration of Excellence in Research and Creative Activity. [PDF]

Drexler, R., Marasch, M., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2020, May). Diverging paths ahead? Young men’s and women’s life values and priorities for the years to come. Poster presented at the 28th annual University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Celebration of Excellence in Research and Creative Activity. [PDF]

Bleske-Rechek, A., & Paulich, K. (2019, July). The g in grammar: Grammar usage is an indicator of general cognitive ability. Poster presented at the annual conference of the International Society for Intelligence Research, Minneapolis, MN. [PDF]

Paulich, K., Badenhorst, S., Jorgensen, K., Seyoum, L., Nuck, G., Axelrod, M., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2019, April). Primed to perceive harm: People’s responses to ambiguous statements as a function of priming. Presented at the annual Celebration of Excellence in Research and Creative Activity, University of Wisconsin–Eau Claire. [PDF]

Bleske-Rechek, A. (2018, April). Liking ≠ learning: Trivial effect of a “sentence-of-the-day” intervention on college students’ detection and correction of grammar usage errors. Poster presented at the annual spring conference of the UW-System’s Office of Professional and Instructional Development (OPID), Madison, WI. [PDF]

Bleske-Rechek, A., Paulich, K., Shafer, P., Kofman, C., & Richmond, C. (2018, May). Immediate hire or immediate rejection? Grammar usage errors taint ratings of applicants’ writing, employability, and character. Poster presented at the 30th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA. [PDF]

Gunseor, M., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2018, May). Spin: Psychological scientists use causal language to describe non-causal data. Poster presented at the 30th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA. [PDF]

Gunseor, M., Shafer, P., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2018, May). Sharing the load: Men’s and women’s attitudes toward household and childcare tasks. Poster presented at the 30th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA. [PDF]

Nuck, G. E., Gunseor, M. M., Seyoum, E., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2018, May). Exploring familial resemblance in romantic attachment: Shared genes and shared rearing environment do not equal shared attachment. Poster presented at the 30th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA. [PDF]

Paulich, K., Jorgensen, K., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2018, May). Are energy therapies supported by randomized, placebo-controlled trials? A systematic review. Poster presented at the 30th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA. [PDF]

Shafer, P., Gunseor, M., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2018, May). I’ve chosen well, but perhaps I could do better: Maximizing tendencies and romantic relationship judgments. Poster presented at the 30th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA. [PDF]

Griffiths, R., Lockington, R., Peterson, L., Harriman, J., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2017, May). Romantically involved or just friends? Accuracy and consensus in judgments of male-female dyads. Poster presented at the 29th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Boston, MA. [PDF]

Gunseor, M., Maly, J., Shafer, P., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2017, May). They obviously didn’t stand a chance: Hindsight bias in judgments of a dating couple. Poster presented at the 29th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Boston, MA. [PDF]

Bleske-Rechek, A., & Joseph, W. E. (2016, May). Sex differences in young adults’ attraction to their opposite-sex friends: Natural sampling versus mental concepts. Poster presented at the 28th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL. [PDF]

Bloechl, C., Griffiths, R., Murray, C. M., Nelton, R., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2016, May). Mama’s baby, papa’s maybe: Links between child-father resemblance and child-reported paternal investment. Poster presented at the 28th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL. [PDF]

Gunseor, M., Nelton, R., Ross, M., Maly, J., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2016, May). Hindsight knowledge and relationship break-up: Should they have seen it coming? Poster presented at the 28th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL. [PDF]

Murray, C. M., Gunseor, M., Darling, S., Priebe, M. C., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2016, May). Conflations of correlation with causation in researchers’ descriptions of their work. Poster presented at the 28th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL. [PDF]

Abel, C., Johnson, A., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2015, May). When misfortune befalls another. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Columbia, MO. [PDF]

Bleske-Rechek, A., Joseph, W., & Williquette, H. (2015, May). Sex differences in attraction to opposite-sex friends: An artifact of sampling method? Poster presented at the annual conference of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Columbia, MO. [PDF]

Bleske-Rechek, A., Williquette, H., Joseph, W., Donovan, B., & Nelson, L. A. (2015, May). Attraction and attractiveness in a naturally occurring sample of opposite-sex friends. Poster presented at the 27th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, New York, NY. [PDF]

Bloechl, C., Plamann, K., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2015, May). Sex differences in the focusing illusion. Poster presented at the 27th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, New York, NY, and at the annual conference of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Columbia, MO. [PDF]

Plamann, K., Bloechl, C., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2015, May). Sex differences in the focusing illusion. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Columbia, MO. [PDF]

Dernbach, M., Cox, E., Joseph, W., Sikowski, G., & Strothenke, D. (2015, May). Similarity between friends and romantic partners in moral intuitions. Poster presented at the 27th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, New York, NY. [PDF]

Joseph, W., Sikowski, G., Strothenke, D., Dernbach, M., & Cox, E. (2015, May). Similarity between friends and romantic partners in moral intuitions. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Columbia, MO. [PDF]

Lee, Y. L., Murray, C., Strothenke, D., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2015, May). How crude! Personality judgments of men and women who swear. Poster presented at the 27th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, New York, NY, and at the annual conference of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Columbia, MO. [PDF]

Gunseor, M., Lee, Y. L., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2015, May). They should have seen it coming: Hindsight bias in evaluation of romantic relationship outcomes. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Columbia, MO. [PDF]

Bleske-Rechek, A., Hanley, E., Donovan, B., Ryan, D. E., & Kelley, J. A. (2013, May). A longitudinal study of young adults’ plans for work and family. Poster presented at the 25th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC. [PDF]

Donovan, B., Hanley, E., Kelley, J., Ryan, D. E., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2013, May). The value of a college education: A longitudinal study of science literacy. Poster presented at the 25th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC. [PDF]

Kelley, J. A., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2013, May). Birth order and personality: A within-family test of cultural lore. Poster presented at the 25th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC. [PDF]

Kolb, C., Bleske-Rechek, A., Quigley, K., Nelson, L. A., & Stern, A. (2013, May). Face and body: Independent predictors of women’s overall attractiveness. Poster presented at the 25th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC. [PDF]

Morrison, K., Heidtke, L., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2013, May). Building blocks of scientific psychology: Students’ understanding of probabilistic trends and correlation-versus-causation. Poster presented at the 25th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC. [PDF]

Ryan, D. E., Donovan, B., Hanley, E., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2013, May). Young adults' mating attitudes and ideal mate preferences: Limited change during college. Poster presented at the 25th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC. [PDF]

Franklin, B. R., Johnson, A. E., Kelley, J. A., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2012, June). Birth order and personality: Testing assumptions with independent siblings’ reports. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Albuquerque, NM. [PDF]

Ryan, D. E., Miller, S. M., Werner, A. R., Johnson, A. E., Quigley, K. E., Kolb, C. M., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2012, June). That’s too bad…NOT! Predictors of feeling pleasure in response to another’s misfortune. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Albuquerque, NM. [PDF]

Werner, A., Fritsch, A., Johnson, J., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2012, June). Sexual attraction to siblings, friends, and mates: Preliminary evidence that opposite-sex friends prime sexual cognition. Poster presented at the annual conference of the Human Behavior and Evolution Society, Albuquerque, NM. [PDF]

Harris, H., Fuerstenberg, E., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2011, May). Twenty-five years of GRE scores and graduate enrollment data by gender, ethnicity, and discipline. Poster presented at the 23rd Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC. [PDF]

Morrison, K. M., Bebault, H. M., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2012, April). Inferences of causation from correlational data. Poster presented at the 20th annual University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Student Research Day. [PDF]

Johnson, A. E., Franklin, B. R., Kelley, J. A., & Bleske-Rechek, A. (2012, April). Does rearing environment shape romantic attachment style? Using siblings to test for shared rearing environmental influences. Poster presented at the 20th annual University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire Student Research Day. [PDF]