Michelle

Larva

Born in Finland, raised in Texas. Before I came to the University of Turku, I got my Master's in Educational Psychology (Human Development and Family Studies) from the University of North Texas, and I worked in applied family science and early childhood policy in Texas. There, I co-founded a family life education practice that offered evidence-based premarital and relationship education to couples. I also coordinated a countywide infant and toddler developmental screening initiative, and worked as a project manager for an early learning collaborative, building partnerships across early childhood organisations. This background in education, policy, advocacy and cross-sector collaboration still shapes how I think about the real-world relevance of relationship research.

I am the Finnish principal investigator of the international MRMS project. In Finland, I have been responsible for the project’s ethical review, participant recruitment, data collection, data management, and research communication. My work has been published in The Journal of Sex Research, Archives of Sexual Behavior, and The Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, and I have presented at international conferences including SSSS, IASR, HBES and ESFR.

In my work, I am committed to open science, and passionate about viewpoint diversity and conducting rigorous research that makes the soft sciences harder.