Positive Activities and Well-Being Laboratory
- Sonja Lyubomirsky, Ph.D.
DOCTORAL STUDENTS:
- Annie Regan (5th year) (top center)
- Ramona Martinez (3rd year) (bottom right)
- Nina Radosic (3rd year) (top left)
- Madison Montemayor (1st year) (bottom left)
- Tanya Vannoy (1st year) (top, second from right)
MOST RECENT PHDs:
- Lisa Walsh, Ph.D. (2021), Postdoctoral fellow, University of California, Los Angeles (top right in photo)
- Seth Margolis, Ph.D. (2020), Quantitative UX Researcher, Google
- Megan Fritz, Ph.D. (2019), People Scientist, BetterUp Labs, BetterUp, Inc.
- Lilian Shin, Ph.D. (2019), Postdoctoral fellow, MD Anderson Cancer Center
- Peter Ruberton, Ph.D. (2017), Postdoctoral fellow, Pennsylvania State University
- Christina Armenta,Ph.D. (2017), UX Researcher, State Farm
- Katie Nelson, Ph.D. (2015), Assistant Professor, Sewanee: The University of the South
- Kristin Layous, Ph.D. (2014), Assistant Professor, California State University, East Bay
- Joe Chancellor, Ph.D. (2013), Senior UX Researcher, Digital Health Startup
- Elliott Kruse, Ph.D. (2013), Assistant Professor, EGADE Business School
- Katie Jacobs Bao, Ph.D. (2013), Assistant Professor, Manhattanville College
- Matthew Della Porta, Ph.D. (2012), Workplace Wellness Consultant and Research Analyst, Orange Frog
- Julia Boehm, Ph.D. (2009), Associate Professor, Chapman University
CURRENT RESEARCH PROJECTS:
The Architecture of Sustainable Happiness
- Mechanisms of Sustainable Change in Long-Term Positive Affect
- The Positive Activity Model: Mediators and Moderators of the Effects of Activity-Based Happiness-Increasing Interventions
- Pursuing Sustainable Happiness Through Practicing Gratitude, Kindness, Optimism, Attention Redirection, Extraverted Behaviors, Self-Compassion, Awe, Savoring, and Self-Affirmation
- Effects of Digital Media, Social Media, and Face-to-Face Connections on Well-Being
- Targeting Positive Activity Interventions to Match People’s Philosophical Views of Well-Being
- Under What Conditions and Individual Differences Might Positive Activities Backfire?
The Architecture of Strengths: Generosity, Gratitude, and Humility
- Well-Being Benefits, Spill-Over Effects, Pay-It-Forward Effects, and Inspiration Effects of the Propagation of Generosity in a Social Network
- Gratitude as a Trigger of Self-Control and Self-Improvement Efforts in the Domains of Work, School, Health, Benevolence, and Parenting Among Adults and Adolescents
- Measurement, Antecedents, Causes, and Consequences of State Humility for Individuals and Organizations
- Self-Affirmation, Gratitude, and Awe as Triggers and Outcomes of Humble Feelings
- How Can People Become Lastingly More Humble?
Why Are Some People Happier Than Others?: Cognitive, Motivational, and Behavioral Processes in Subjective Happiness
- Individual and Societal Benefits of Happiness and Positive Affect
- The Parenthood Paradox: When and Why Are Parents More or Less Happy?
- Ambulatory, Sociometric, Genomic, Psychophysiological, EEG, Smartphone, and Virtual Reality Methodologies to Assess and Induce Happiness and Its Outcomes
Cultural, Population, and Developmental Influences on the Pursuit of Happiness
- Cultural Differences in the Mechanisms and Effectiveness of Happiness-Increasing Interventions: Trials With Asian-American, Japanese, Chinese, Hong Kong, Taiwanese, Korean, Indian, Chilean, Hungarian, German, French, Spanish, Canadian, and British Participants
- Mechanisms Underlying the Success of Happiness-Increasing Interventions in Elementary School Students, High School Students, Coronary Heart Disease Patients, Suicidal Patients, and Corporate Employees
- Positive Activities as Protective Factors Against Mental Health Conditions in At Risk and Clinical (Suicidal, Depressed, Anxious) Populations
- Meaning, Experience, and Expression of Happiness and Suffering: The U.S. vs. Russia
Hedonic Adaptation to Positive Experience
- Adaptation to Positive Experience as a Barrier to Sustainable Happiness: Mechanisms (Appreciation, Novelty, Variety) and Interventions
- The Role of Elevated Aspirations in Consumerism, Materialism, Indebtedness, and Overspending: Thwarting Hedonic Adaptation and Fostering Thrift