Portraits of Impact

The School of Interdisciplinary Studies — formerly the School of General Studies — was only four years old when Dr. Karen Prager, professor of psychology, started teaching courses in 1979. She then spent 45 years supporting UT Dallas’ growth and educating generations of Comets before deciding it was time to retire. But Prager could not leave entirely, not when there was still research to be done at her beloved Couples Daily Lives Lab.

When Prager first arrived at UTD, she started studying intimacy development in individuals. 

“The idea of studying relationships for me came from an interest in the work done by famed psychologist Erik Eriksson,” Prager said. “His theory of intimacy as being an individual developmental process and not a relational process was only applicable to men. It was probably the rebel in me that wanted to show that these concepts can easily be applied to women as well.”

However, she soon discovered that the best way to study intimacy was in the relationships where it was fostered – especially committed, monogamous relationships. For her, there is a lot of significance to studying relationships, as they are often a huge source of fulfillment, happiness and satisfaction.

“I like to research the climate that two people living together create in their home,” Prager said. “If children are introduced into this climate, they are significantly influenced by it, meaning if that climate is either healthy or unhealthy, the child’s development will be impacted. Similarly, if divorce is introduced into the mix, that has a huge impact on the child.”

Prager explained that even going beyond the home and into other aspects of a couple’s life, the health of that relationship has a huge impact on their careers and friendships.

In the early 2000s, she established the Couples Daily Lives Lab, which focuses on collecting data about how couples handle their disagreements and repair their relationship afterward. All participants are at least 20 years old, and couples must live together.

“We look at couples’ everyday lives,” Prager said. “For two weeks, they report to us using daily diaries and document their moods, interactions with each other and whether they had a conflict.”

She and her team collect questionnaire data from the diaries then bring the couples in to observe them solving problems together. There are usually 10 to 16 students working in the lab each semester.

“Meeting face-to-face is incredibly vital to our research,” Prager said. “You capture more that way. My students also view the video recorded conversations as a team to promote a collaborative environment.”

Before fully retiring from the lab and UTD, she hopes to finish the most recent set of data collection and publish another paper before turning it over to her doctoral student Siri Wilder MS’22.

“I’m officially retired, but I love working part-time to run the lab and ensure the transition to Siri goes well,” Prager said. “The Couples Daily Lives Lab has always been my favorite thing to work on.”

To support the research and students of the Couples Daily Lives Lab, visit giving.utdallas.edu/is.

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