Among the topics we research are:
- the benefits of finding meaning in life and the identification of interventions and ecological factors that contribute to meaning in life
- the interaction of personality and situational factors in impacting psychological distress and well-being
- social factors in the etiology and phenomenology of depression
- translating basic research into interventions that can add quality to people's lives
- psychological aspects of religion and spirituality
- identifying the benefits of experiencing meaningful work; understanding the qualities of organizations and leaders that attract or cultivate people who experience meaningful work; and developing interventions to improve people's work experience with an eye to how improved work benefits families
A number of methods are used in our lab, including:
- questionnaires and interviews
- daily process methodologies
- qualitative narrative analysis
- social psychology laboratory experiments
- priming and reaction-time laboratory experiments
Our Laboratory's philosophy toward scientific inquiry requires that we each invest fully in the intellectual development of every lab member. This requires passion and commitment, and each person in the lab is expected to contribute fully to the advancement of scientific knowledge through critically consuming research literature, creating and refining research ideas, conducting and managing experiments, learning advanced data analysis procedures, and helping disseminate the knowledge our lab generates to the wider scientific and social community.
These ambitions are achieved through serious and intense investment in the scientific grounding, critical thinking skills, autonomy, and passions of lab members. Graduate students are considered to be colleagues, and one of the prime missions of the lab is to foster independent-thinking, skilled, and ethical social and clinical scientists. It is our belief that through commitment and engagement in students' intellectual passions and interests, research becomes rewarding, socially-relevant, and fun!