Her research interests include the effects of motivation on visual perception and social judgment. Along with her colleagues, she has developed an interdisciplinary theory of goal pursuit that incorporates physiology, psychobiology, social cognition, culture, and vision science. She served as an editor of a volume entitled The Social Psychology of Visual Perception, and has published widely and often on these topics. Implications of her research extend to political and legal decision-making, intergroup conflict, dieting and exercise difficulties, and other domains.