Nick Herrera is a Visiting Assistant Professor at DePaul University. He received his B.A. (1995) from the University of California at San Diego and his M.A. (1998) and Ph.D. (2000) from Stanford University, where he studied social psychology. As a graduate student, he conducted research on emotional contagion, beliefs about birth order differences in intelligence and personality, and the social psychology of evil. He worked as an Honors Intern for the FBI, studying the hunting patterns of serial rapists and the behavioral profiling of serial killers. He also studied painting and drawing for four years at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago.

His current research examines the interpersonal consequences of shyness; the fear of missing out (FOMO); the relationship between the experience of sleep paralysis and personality traits; and cultural, personality, and situational factors that affect how and why people flirt. He is also interested in real-world examples of extreme and systematic attempts at social influence referred to as brainwashing and mind control.