Maria Kaźmierczak

Associate Professor in PSYCHOLOGY

Kazmierczak

ORCID 0000-0001-7323-2580

Institute of Psychology
Faculty of Social Sciences
University of Gdańsk
Bażyńskiego 4
80-309 Gdańsk POLAND

  • Head of the Division of Family Studies and Quality of Life at Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Gdansk
  • Associate Editor of Current Issues in Personality Psychology
  • Executive Editor of Roczniki Psychologiczne/Annals of Psychology
I am the Chair of the Division of Family Studies and Quality of Life at Institute of Psychology, Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Gdansk in Poland. I conduct research on: empathy in the context of family relations, transition to parenthood, parental sensitivity and the quality of intimate relationships. I have received several scientific awards and scholarships as: the Teofrast Award for the best scientific psychological book of 2015 (Charaktery magazine); Jacobs Foundation Travel Fellowship (2015); research fellowship from the Foundation for Polish Science (2008, 2009); the Polish Prime Minister’s Award for a distinguished doctoral dissertation (2006), a Witkin-Okonji Memorial Fund Award (from Greece, 2006).

Major publications

Books: as author, Faces of Empathy in Transition to Parenthood (2015); Communication in close relationships. Theory and the research tool (2012, with Prof. M. Plopa); Faces of Empathy in Marriage. Psychological perspec­tive (2008). As editor (with A. Chybicka, Ph.D.), Appreciating diversity (2007, 2008); Women in Culture (2006).

Selected articles

Kaźmierczak, M., Pawlicka, P., Anikiej, P., Łada, A., & Michałek-Kwiecień, J. (2020). Parental negative emotionality and emotional reactions to child’s crying: the mediating role of child’s temperament. Early Child Development and Care, 1-15.

Takács, L., Smolík, F., Kaźmierczak, M., & Putnam, S. P. (2020). Early infant temperament shapes the nature of mother-infant bonding in the first postpartum year. Infant Behavior and Development, 58, 101428.

Michałek-Kwiecień, J., Kaźmierczak, M. (2019). The empathic family and the development of mature personal identity in emerging adults. Journal of Youth Studies; 10.1080/13676261.2019.1597256.

Pawlicka, P., Kazmierczak, M., & Jagiello‐Rusilowski, A. (2019). Empathy and social closeness toward refugees from Syria: The mediating role of cultural intelligence. Journal of Community Psychology 47(5), 1014-1031.

Kaźmierczak, M., & Karasiewicz, K. (2019). Making space for a new role–gender differences in identity changes in couples transitioning to parenthood. Journal of Gender Studies, 28(3), 271-287.

Olza, I., Leahy-Warren, P., Benyamini, Y., Kazmierczak, M., Karlsdottir, S. I., Spyridou, A., … & Jonsdottir, S. S. (2018). Women’s psychological experiences of physiological childbirth: a meta-synthesis. BMJ Open, 8(10), e020347.

Kaźmierczak, M., Michałek-Kwiecień, J., Kiełbratowska, B., & Karasiewicz, K. (2018). Parents’ personality and maternal experiences in childcare as predictors of postpartum depression in couples in transition to parenthood. Psychiatr. Pol. online first Nr 104: 1–15. doi.org/10.12740/PP/OnlineFirst/81092.

Plopa, M., Kaźmierczak, M., Karasiewicz, K. (2016). The quality of parental relationships and dispositional empathy as predictors of satisfaction during the transition to marriage. Journal of Family Studies, 1-14.

Kaźmierczak, M. (2015). Couple Empathy – the Mediator of Attachment Styles for Partners Adjusting to  Parenthood. Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology,33(1), 15-27.

Kaźmierczak, M., Błażek, M. (2015). Attachment Styles as Predictors of the Perception of Couples Cohesion (short report). Social Behavior and Personality,43(6), 1055-1056.

Kiełbratowska, B., Kaźmierczak, M., Michałek, M., Preis, K. (2015). Temperament and the Mother-Infant Dyad: Associations with Breastfeeding and Formula Feeding with a Bottle. Infant Mental Health Journal, 36(3), 243-250.

Błażek, M., Kaźmierczak, M., Besta, T. (2015). Sense of Purpose in Life and Escape from Self as the Predictors of Quality of Life in Clinical Samples. Journal of Religion and Health, 54(2), 517-523.

Fitzpatrick, J., Błażek, M., Kaźmierczak, M., Lewandowska-Walter, A., Pastwa-Wojciechowska, B., Błażek, W. (2014). Lifestyle and Close Relationship Trends among Young Adults in Poland. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 31(7), 928-937.

Kaźmierczak, M., Kiełbratowska, B., Pastwa-Wojciechowska, B., Preis, K. (2013). The Couvade Syndrome among Polish Expectant Fathers. Medical  Science Monitor, 19, 132-138.

Pastwa-Wojciechowska, B., Kaźmierczak, M., Błażek, M. (2012).  Self-Esteem and Styles of Coping with Stress versus Strategies of Planning in People with Psychopathic Personality Disorders. Medical Science Monitor, 18(2), 119-124.

Kaźmierczak, M., Goodwin, R. (2011). Pregnancy and Body Image in Poland: Gender Roles and Self-Esteem during the Third Trimester.  Journal of Reproductive and Infant Psychology, 29(4), 334-342.