Toe Aung, Ph.D.

BIOGRAPHY:

Born and raised in Myanmar, Dr. Aung moved to the U.S. through the Diversity Immigrant Visa Program. His experience overcoming language barriers and adapting to a new culture shaped his passion for cross-cultural research and teaching psychology. Dr. Aung is a cross-cultural and evolutionary psychologist with a Ph.D. in Anthropology from Penn State. He has published in high impact journals and serves on the editorial boards of Evolutionary Psychology and Evolutionary Psychological Science. Dr. Aung is also an active board member of the Northeastern Evolutionary Psychology Society.

Dr. Aung’s teaching philosophy centers on promoting critical thinking, advocating for student success, and fostering an inclusive learning environment to help students succeed academically and in life.

Selected Publications:

Swift-Gallant, A., Aung, T., Rosenfield, K., Dawood, K., & Puts, D. A. (2024). Organizational effects of gonadal hormones on human sexual orientation. Adaptive Human Behavior & Physiology, 9(4), 344-370. https://link.springer.com/article/10.1007/s40750-023-00226-x

Aung, T., Hill. A. K., Pfefferle, D., McLester, E., Fuller, J., Garcia-Nisa, I., Kendal, R., Petersdorf, M., Higham, J., Galat, G., Lawrence, J., Lameira, A. R., Apicella, C. L., Barelli, C., Glenn, M. E., Ramos-Fernandez, G., & Puts, D. A. (2023). Group size and sex ratio predict deep male vocalization in primates. Nature Communications, 14(4069). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41467-023-39535-w

Karthikeyan, S., Puts, D. A., Aung, T., Link, J., Cristo, M., Rosenfield, K., Patel, J., Casey, A., Santos, A., Mackiel, A., Marks, K., & Geher, G. (2023). The language of human mating: Articulatory effects on perceptions of attractiveness and dominance. Scientific Reports, 13(2647). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-023-29173-z

Aung, T., Palma, M., & Rivera, S. (2023). Vocal Pitch: Formidability. In Encyclopedia of Sexual Psychology and Behavior. Cham, Springer International Publishing. doi: 10.1007/978-3-031-08956-5_2443-1

Aung, T., Payton, C., Crowell, D., Sanchez, J., & Pentek, W. (2023). Cross-cultural Comparisons: Intersexual Selection. In Encyclopedia of Sexual Psychology and Behavior. Cham, Springer International Publishing. https://link.springer.com/referenceworkentry/10.1007/978-3-031-08956-5_722-1

Aung, T., Goetz, S., Adams, J., McKenna, C., Hess, C., Roytman, S., Cheng, J. T., Zilioli, S., Puts, D. (2021). Low voice pitch predicts fighting ability among male mixed martial arts fighters. Scientific Report, 11(905). https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-020-79408-6

Aung, T., Rosenfield, K. A., & Puts, D. A. (2021). Male voice pitch as a signal of dominance: The mediating role of voice pitch between formidability and perceived formidability. Evolution and Human Behavior, 42(2). https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S109051382030101X

Aung, T., & Puts, D. A. (2020). Voice pitch: a window into the communication of social power. Current Opinion in Psychology, 33, 154-161. https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2352250X19301083

Courses Taught:

PSY 100 Foundations in Psychology
PSY 206 Cross-cultural Psychology
PSY 208 Statistics
PSY 300 Evolutionary Psychology
PSY 324 Lifespan Development
GEN 501 Human Development

Research Interests:

My research interests span sex differences, mating psychology, hormonal influences, relational mobility, and perceptions related to faces and voices.