Research Interests
As a social, personality, and health psychologist, I study how the social environment influences human behavior, how individuals differ, and how situational influences on behavior vary as a function of individual differences. More specifically, I use this framework to understand well-being in ecologically valid contexts and at different levels of conceptualization and analysis. At a global level, people are asked to evaluate their lives as a whole. These evaluations (e.g., life satisfaction, meaning in life) are influenced by chronically accessible information and contextual or temporarily accessible information such as one’s current mood. At a momentary or daily level, well-being is assessed in the moment during an experience. These fluctuating states of well-being often covary with other momentary or daily experiences and are captured best through ecological momentary assessment techniques (e.g., daily diary studies).
Assessing well-being at these different levels of analysis allows me to examine between- and within-person relationships, which are mathematically and psychologically independent. For example, individuals in the US who search for meaning in life find less meaning in life than those who do not search for meaning in life (a negative between-person relationship). In contrast, on days when people search for meaning in life, they tend to find more meaning in life in comparison to days when they do not search for meaning in life (a positive within-person relationship; Newman, Nezlek, & Thrash, 2018).
To understand such relationships, I rely on multilevel modeling and structural equation modeling. Although I use these analytic techniques simply as a means to answer questions concerning well-being, the framework offered by multilevel modeling shapes my research interests.
Such a multilevel approach to well-being enables me to study a broad range of topics that include (but not limited to) maximizing, social relationships, gratitude, meaning in life, nostalgia, emotion regulation, religious experiences, and political ideology. These topics lie at the nexus of social and personality psychology and have implications that extend beyond well-being research. Understanding differences in global evaluations and momentary/daily judgments have implications for fields in public health, organizational behavior, affective science, religious studies, and public policy.
Assessing well-being at these different levels of analysis allows me to examine between- and within-person relationships, which are mathematically and psychologically independent. For example, individuals in the US who search for meaning in life find less meaning in life than those who do not search for meaning in life (a negative between-person relationship). In contrast, on days when people search for meaning in life, they tend to find more meaning in life in comparison to days when they do not search for meaning in life (a positive within-person relationship; Newman, Nezlek, & Thrash, 2018).
To understand such relationships, I rely on multilevel modeling and structural equation modeling. Although I use these analytic techniques simply as a means to answer questions concerning well-being, the framework offered by multilevel modeling shapes my research interests.
Such a multilevel approach to well-being enables me to study a broad range of topics that include (but not limited to) maximizing, social relationships, gratitude, meaning in life, nostalgia, emotion regulation, religious experiences, and political ideology. These topics lie at the nexus of social and personality psychology and have implications that extend beyond well-being research. Understanding differences in global evaluations and momentary/daily judgments have implications for fields in public health, organizational behavior, affective science, religious studies, and public policy.