His research focuses on topics that can “actually help the human condition,” said another nominator. McConnell explores how relationships with entities such as families and pets affect health and well-being; how people decode others’ nonverbal displays; how nonconscious and conscious beliefs affect judgment and behavior; and how self-knowledge influences emotions, goals and actions.

McConnell named his lab “PASS”  — for Pets, Attitudes, Self and Stereotypes — neatly summarizing his research areas.

His expertise has been applied to environmental conservation, consumer and medical behavior, and trial and jury consulting. His research has been presented in many legal venues including in briefs argued before the U.S. Supreme Court.

His work has been supported by more than $1 million in funding from the National Science Foundation and the National Institute of Mental Health, and has resulted in more than 60 peer-reviewed articles.

He has consistently published in the leading journals in psychology. According to one nominator, "eight publications in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology puts McConnell in the 'upper-upper tier' of scholarship.”

McConnell's work has been cited nearly 5,000 times, and has been featured in outlets such as CNN, BBC, ESPN, Fox News, MSNBC, The New York Times, Time, Toronto Globe and Mail, Daily Mail (UK), ABC News (Australia).

He has an “almost unparalleled record of editorial appointments to the discipline's very best journals,” described a nominator. McConnell has served as editor-in-chief or associate editor for three of the four leading journals in social psychology.

He currently serves as president of the Midwestern Psychological Association, and is vice-president and president-elect of the Society for Experimental Social Psychology.