Lab News
March 2024
A manuscript authored by Dr. Busseri, entitled "Evaluating the Structure of Subjective Well-Being: Evidence From Three Large-Scale, Long-Term, National Longitudinal Studies ", has been accepted for publication in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Details here.
January 2024
PhD student Brock DeGagne has begun a career as a Statistical and Research Analyst in the Department of Integrated Planning and Institutional Research at Assiniboine College in Brandon Manitoba. Congratulations Brock!
November 2023
Dr. Busseri was among the most cited researchers in the world (top 2% of all scientists) in 2022. See details here.
September 2023
We are pleased to welcome incoming Honours Thesis student Samantha Kszan to the Well-Being Research Lab.
June 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri and former lab member Emily Erb (Honours BA, 2021) - a manuscript they co-authored, entitled "The happy personality revisited: Re-examining associations between Big Five personality traits and subjective well-being using meta-analytic structural equation modeling", has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Personality. Details here.
MA student Melissa Beaucage and PhD student Brock DeGagne presented research posters at the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association (Toronto, ON). Way to go Melissa and Brock!
Dr. Busseri presented a research talk, entitled "My life gets better and better! Examining the causes, correlates, and consequences of how individuals view their lives to be unfolding over time", at the Social/Personality Psychology preconference at the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association (Toronto, ON).
May 2023
Congratulations to MA student Melissa Beaucage and PhD student Brock DeGagne - each of whom has been awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship in support of their graduate studies for 2023-2024. Way to go Melissa and Brock!
April 2023
Congratulations to lab member Isabella Roberto for completing her undergraduate Honours Thesis, examining lay theories for social anxiety, and her Honours BA in Psychology this month. Way to go Isabella!
Congratulations to MA student Melissa Beaucage for winning a Spring Research Fellowship from the Department of Graduate Studies in support of her MA thesis research. Way to go, Melissa!
March 2023
Congratulations to MA student Melissa Beaucage for winning a Student Research Award from the Faculty of Social Sciences, in support of her thesis research examining individuals' beliefs about how life unfolds over time for people in their community, their country, and all of humanity. Way to go, Melissa!
February 2023
PhD student Brock DeGagne presented his thesis research examining the impact of temporal comparisons on the belief that life gets better and better over time in two research posters at the 2023 meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (Atlanta, GA), one at the Happiness and Well-Being preconference, and the other during the main conference event. Way to go Brock!
Dr. Busseri presented a research talk, entitled "My life gets better and better: Examining the causes and consequences of how individuals view their lives to be unfolding over time", at the Happiness and Well-Being preconference at the 2023 meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (Atlanta, GA).
November 2022
Congratulations to PhD student Andrew Chung and Dr. Karen Arnell (both from the Attention Lab at Brock University), a manuscript co-authored with Dr. Busseri, entitled "Individual differences in naturally occurring affect predict conceptual breadth: Evidence for the importance of arousal by valence interactions", has been accepted for publication in the journal Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications. Way to go Andrew! Details here.
October 2022
Congratulations to lab members Brock DeGagne (MA 2020) and Emily Erb (Honours BA 2021) on celebrating their degrees at the Legacy Convocation held this month. Congratulations also to Michelle Martinez (Honours BA, 2022) on her convocation this month!
September 2022
We are pleased to welcome incoming MA student Melissa Beaucage (Lakehead University) and incoming Honours Thesis student Isabella Roberto to the Well-Being Research Lab. We are also pleased that former thesis student Michelle Martinez (Honours BA Psychology, 2022) will be a research assistant in the lab.
August 2022
Congratulations to Michelle Martinez (Honours BA Psyc 2022) for completing her Honours Thesis entitled, "Deviation from the Cultural Life Script and Life Satisfaction: Does Perceived Inadequacy Explain This Relationship Among Young Adults?", in the Well-Being Lab. Way to go Michelle!
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri and Dr. David Newman (postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, San Francisco). A co-authored paper entitled, "Happy Days: Resolving the Structure of Daily Subjective Well-Being, Between and Within Individuals" has been accepted for publication at the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. Details here.
June 2022
Current lab member Michelle Martinez presented a poster based on her undergraduate thesis research, entitled "Deviation from the cultural life script and life satisfaction: Does perceived inadequacy explain this relationship among young adults?", at the Annual Ontario Psychology Undergraduate Thesis Conference, hosted this year by Brock University. Way to go Michelle!
Congratulations to lab member Brock DeGagne (MA, Psychology 2020) for winning a Faculty of Social Sciences 2022 Spring Research Fellowship to support his PhD thesis research examining the impact of temporal comparisons on individuals' self-evaluations, affect, and motivation. Way to go Brock!
May 2022
Congratulations to Emily Erb, former Honours Thesis student (Honours BA in Psychology, 2022) and current lab RA: A two-study manuscript based on her thesis project, co-authored with Dr. Busseri, entitled "Examining the double-edge sword effects of lay theories for mental health on perceptions and treatment of others with mental health problems" has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. Details here.
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri and former lab member Mojan Naisani Samani (MA in Psychology, 2017). A manuscript based on their research, entitled "Can My Life Get Better? Examining Lay Theories for Life Satisfaction Among Younger and Older Adults", has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Positive Psychology. Details here.
April 2022
Congratulations to Brock DeGagne (MA, Psychology 2020), who has been awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship to support his PhD research in the Well-Being Research lab examining the impact of temporal comparisons on individuals' temporal self-evaluations, affect and motivation. Way to go Brock!
Congratulations to Emily Erb (Honours BA, Psychology 2021), former Thesis student and current lab RA, who has been awarded a Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to support her in the Master of Arts in Education Studies in School and Applied Child Psychology at The University of Western Ontario. Way to go Emily!
February 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri. A research paper, entitled "Life Gets Better and Better’: National Differences in Recollected Past, Present, and Anticipated Future Life Satisfaction Around the World, Across Time, and in Relation to Societal Functioning", has been accepted for publication at the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Details here.
Congratulations to Brock DeGagne (MA 2020; current PhD student) for presenting research, co-authored with Dr. Busseri, "Temporal Self-Enhancement: Evaluating the Differential Emotional and Motivational Impact of Better Versus Worse Than Average Comparisons Concerning One’s Life in the Past, Present, or Future" at the Emotion Preconference to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (online). Brock also presented this research at the main SPSP conference.
December 2021
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri and Dr. Jordi Quoidbach (ESADE Business School, Spain), a co-authored paper entitled "The structure of everyday happiness is best captured by a latent subjective well-being factor" has been accepted for publication at the Journal of Research in Personality. Details here.
October 2021
Congratulations to former Honours Thesis student Lauren Kremble (Honours BA in Psychology, 2019) – a manuscript based on her thesis project co-authored with Dr. Busseri, entitled " 'The best is yet to come’: Examining the affective and motivational implications of reflective versus evaluative modes of thinking about a brighter future life" has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Details here.
Congratulations to Tessa Mazachowsky (PhD Candidate) and Dr. Caitlin Mahy (both from the Developing Memory and Cognition Lab at Brock University) - a manuscript based on a collaborative project conducted with Dr. Busseri, entitled, " “These pretzels are making me thirsty” so I’ll have water tomorrow: A partial replication and extension of adults’ induced-state episodic foresight" has been accepted for publication in the journal PLOS One. Details here.
September 2021
We welcome Michelle Martinez as an Honours Thesis student for 2021-22. Michelle's thesis research will examine the 'life script' concept as it relates to how young adults view their lives as unfolding over time.
July 2021
Dr. Busseri presented a research paper, entitled "Evaluating the structure of subjective well-being in a large-scale experience sample", based on a research collaboration with Dr. Jordi Quoidbach (ESADE Business School, Spain), at the biannual meeting of the Association for Research in Personality (data blitz, online).
June 2021
Congratulations to Emily Erb (Honours BA, Psychology 2021) who presented her thesis research at the 51st Annual Ontario Psychology Undergraduate Thesis Conference hosted by McMaster University (online).
Congratulations to Brook Haight – undergraduate thesis alumna (2019/2020) and lab RA (2020/2021) – who presented research findings from a collaboration with Dr. Busseri and Dr. Teena Willoughby (Adolescent Development Lab, Brock University), entitled, "Can my life get more stressful? Mental health implications of believing stress increases over time", at the annual Canadian Psychological Association conference (online).
May 2021
Congratulations to Brook Haight – undergraduate thesis alumna (2019/2020) and lab RA (2020/2021) – a manuscript co-authored with Dr. Busseri, entitled "Examining the Implications of Perceiving One’s Future Health as a Goal or a Standard for Affect, Motivation, and Health Behaviour" has been accepted for publication in the journal Motivation and Emotion. Details here.
Congratulations to Emily Erb on completing her Honours Thesis, entitled, "Capable of Change or Stays the Same? Examining the Effects of Lay Theories of Mental Health on Perceptions of Others with Mental Health Problems". Great job Emily!
April 2021
Congratulations to Brook Haight – undergraduate thesis alumna (2019/2020) and lab RA (2020/2021) – who has accepted an offer of admission for graduate studies in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia under the supervision of Dr. Eli Puterman beginning September 2021. Brook will also be funded by a Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
Congratulations to Emily Erb (current Honours Thesis student) who has accepted an offer of admission to the Master of Arts in Education Studies in School and Applied Child Psychology at The University of Western Ontario under the supervision of Dr. Gabrielle Lee beginning September 2021 . In other great news, Emily has received an Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA, funded by NSERC) to work under the supervision of Dr. Caitlin May (director, Developing Memory & Cognition Lab at Brock University) during this coming Spring/Summer term.
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri, who has received an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2021 - 2026) to fund his research, entitled "Beliefs about how life unfolds over time: Content, causes, and consequences for successful aging across the adult lifespan." See media report here.
March 2021
Congratulations to Brock DeGagne (MA 2020; current PhD student). A manuscript based on his MA thesis, entitled "The impact of better- versus worse-than-average comparisons on beliefs about how life satisfaction is unfolding over time, affect, and motivation", has been accepted for publication at the European Journal of Social Psychology. Details here.
February 2021
Congratulations to Brock DeGagne (MA 2020; current PhD student) for presenting his MA thesis research at the Attitudes and Social Influence Preconference to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (online). Brock also presented his MA research at the main SPSP conference. Brock also recently received a Student Research Award from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Brock University.
Congratulations to Brook Haight (HBA 2020; current lab RA) for presenting her undergraduate Honours thesis research at the Health Preconference to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (online). Brook also presented her research at the main SPSP conference.
September 2020
Congratulations to former lab member Holly Harris and Dr. Busseri. A reply to a commentary on their 2019 publication based on Holly's Honours thesis project has been published in the Journal of Research in Personality. Details here.
We welcome new PhD student Brock DeGagne (MA, 2020), who completed his MA degree as part of the Well-Being Research Lab in August 2020. Brock's PhD research will be examining temporal and social comparisons in the context of how individuals view their lives to be unfolding over time.
We also welcome Emily Erb as an Honours Thesis student for 2020-21. Emily has been a research assistant in the lab for the past two years. This year, Emily's thesis research will examine the concept of 'lay theories' for mental health.
Brook Haight (Honours BA Psyc, 2020) joins the lab as a research assistant after successfully completing her Honours degree in May 2020 under Dr. Busseri's mentorship. This year, Brook will be continuing her research examining individuals' beliefs about their future health from a self-regulation perspective, as well as helping with various other projects in the lab.
August 2020
Congratulations to current lab member Brock DeGagne, who successfully defended his MA thesis, entitled "My life compared to others: Examining the impact of better or worse off comparisons on young adults' beliefs about how their life satisfaction is unfolding over time".
Congratulations to former lab member Taysa-Rhea Mise (MA, 2015). A manuscript based on her research conducted with Dr. Busseri, entitled "The full life revisited: Examining hedonia and eudaimonia as general orientations, motivates for activities, and experiences of wellbeing", has been accepted for publication at the journal International Journal of Wellbeing. Details here.
July 2020
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri, Dr. Carolyn Hafer (Brock University), and Dr. Becky Choma (Ryerson University). A manuscript based on their research, entitled "When will I get what I deserve? Examining personal belief in a just world using a temporally-expanded perspective", has been accepted for publication at the journal Personality and Individual Differences. Details here.
Congratulations to PhD student Andrew Chung and Dr. Karen Arnell (Attention Research Lab, Brock University) along with Dr. Busseri. A manuscript based on their research, entitled "Naturally occurring affect does not predict working memory performance: A latent variable modelling study", has been accepted for publication at the journal Psychological Research.
June 2020
Congratulations to Brook Haight (Honours BA, Psychology 2020) who presented her thesis research at the 50th Annual Ontario Psychology Undergraduate Thesis Conference at the University of Toronto (online).
May 2020
Congratulations to Brook Haight on completing her Honours Thesis, entitled, "Harnessing Beliefs About Future Health: The Impact of Viewing Anticipated Future Health as a Goal or a Standard on Perceptions of Health, Affect, Motivation, and Health Behaviour Intentions".
February 2019
Congratulations to Brock DeGagne for presenting some of his MA thesis research at the Happiness and Well-Being Preference to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (New Orleans, LA). In addition, Brock presented other research he is collaborating on with Dr. Busseri at the main SPSP conference.
Dr. Busseri presented a research talk on subjective well-being at the Happiness and Well-Being preference to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (New Orleans, LA).
November 2019
Congratulations to former lab member Holly Harris and Dr. Busseri. A summary of Holly's Honours thesis research project was published in the blog, Character and Context, by the Society of Personality and Social Psychology. Details here.
September 2019
We are pleased to welcome Honours Thesis student Brook Haight to the Well-Being Research Lab.
Congratulations to former lab member Holly Harris. A manuscript based on her Honours thesis project, entitled "Is there an 'end of history illusion' for life satisfaction? Evidence from a three-wave longitudinal study", has been accepted for publication at the Journal of Research in Personality. Details here. Holly has recently started her MA in Critical Disabilities Studies at York University.
A media article describing some recent research from the lab was published in the Brock News.
Congratulations to former lab member Mojan Naisani Samani. A manuscript based on her MA thesis research, entitled "Examining the link between mindfulness and temporal perspective", has been accepted for publication at the journal Mindfulness. Details here. Mojan is currently completing her PhD in Business Administration at McMaster University.
August 2019
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri, Prof. Carolyn Hafer, and members of Prof. Hafer's research lab: Alicia Rubel (PhD, 2017), Carrie Drolet (PhD 2018), and Jenny Carrington (Honours BA 2019). A manuscript based on their research, entitled "A latent factor approach to belief in a just world and its association with well-being", has been accepted for publication at the journal Social Justice Research. Details here.
July 2019
Congratulations to former MA student Taysa-Rhea Mise (MA, 2014) and Dr. Busseri. A publication based on their research together, entitled "Bottom-up or top-down? Examining global and domain-specific evaluations of how one's life is unfolding over time", has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Personality. Details here.
June 2019
Dr. Busseri presented results from a research project, entitled "In search of the holy grail of happiness research: Long-lasting improvements in subjective well-being" at the biannual meeting of the Association for Research in Personality in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
May 2019
Congratulations to Lauren Kremble on completing her Honours Thesis project, entitled "Examining the effects of reflective versus evaluative thinking about one's future life"! Also, earlier this month Lauren presented her thesis research at the 49th Annual Ontario Psychology Undergraduate Thesis Conference at the University of Waterloo. Way to go Lauren!
April 2019
Congratulations to Erin Shanahan (former Honours Thesis student, 2014/15; current PhD student at Wilfrid Laurier U.). A co-authored manuscript based on her on-going research with Dr. Busseri, entitled "A systematic review of the relationship between perceived life script event age and valence" has been accepted for publication at Psychology and Aging. Details here
Congratulations to Holly Harris (Honours Thesis student, 2017/18) who has accepted an offer of admission to the MA in Critical Disabilities Studies program at York University (starting September 2019). Holly has also been awarded a SSHRC Joseph Bombardier Scholarship to support her graduate studies. Way to go Holly!
March 2019
Congratulations to Brock DeGagne (current MA student) who has been awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship in support of his MA research for 2019/20. Way to go Brock!
We welcome Emily Erb (2nd year Honours BA, Psychology) to the lab as a volunteer Research Assistant.
February 2019
Congratulations to Kathryn Bunda (former Honours Thesis student, 2015/16; current PhD student at Iowa State U.) who presented a research poster at the Health Preconference at the 2019 meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (Portland, OR), based on her on-going research with Dr. Busseri, entitled, "Subjective Trajectories for Self-Rated Health Predict Changes in Physical Health." UPDATE: Kudos also to Kathryn and Dr. Busseri now that a peer-reviewed publication based on this work, entitled "Subjective trajectories for self-rated health as a predictor of change in physical health over time: Results from a 18-year longitudinal study", has been accepted for publication in the journal Social Cognition. Details here.
Congratulations also to Erin Shanahan (former Honours Thesis student, 2014/15; current PhD student at Wilfrid Laurier U.) who presented a research poster at the Happiness and Well-Being Preconference at the 2019 meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (Portland, OR), based on her on-going research with Dr. Busseri, entitled, "Life gets better and better, or worse and worse, across the lifespan? A meta-analysis of the cultural life script."
January 2019
Congratulations to MA student Brock DeGagne. A manuscript based on his Honours thesis project at Brandon University, entitled "Spatial Frequency Thresholds for Detecting Latent Facial Signals of Threat", has been accepted for publication in the journal Perception. See details here.
October 2018
Congratulations to Holly Harris (Honours Thesis student, 2017/18) on her convocation - and a great news story on how her undergrad co-op experiences lead to a job in mental health education and research. Story details here.
September 2018
We are pleased to welcome incoming MA student Brock DeGagne (Brandon University) and Honours Thesis student Lauren Kremble to the Well-Being Research Lab.
August 2018
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri and former MA student Mojan Naisani Samani. A manuscript based on their research examining lay theories for life satisfaction has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Happiness Studies. See details here.
June 2018
Congratulations to Mojan Naisani Samani (MA, 2017) who presented a research poster at the joint meeting of the International Congress of Applied Social Psychology & the Canadian Psychology Association based on her on-going research with Dr. Busseri, entitled "The wandering mind: Examining general, spontaneous, and deliberate mind-wandering in relation to psychological functioning" (Montreal, Que).
May 2018
Dr. Busseri presented a paper, entitled "Does subjective well-being change over the long term? Results from a 20-year longitudinal study in America", at the 1st Scientific Meeting on Well-Being (Victoria University, Toronto).
Congratulations to current and former members of the Well-Being Research Lab, who presented research posters at the 4th Canadian Conference on Positive Psychology (Victoria University, Toronto): Erin Shanahan ("Life gets better and better, or worse and worse? A multi-country meta-analysis of the cultural life script"); Carlie LeBlanc and Mojan Naisani Samani ("In pursuit of a brighter future life: Examining the roles of fantasies and expectations in promoting goal attainment"); and Holly Harris ("Does the 'End of History Illusion' apply to how individuals perceive their life satisfaction as unfolding over time?").
Congratulations to Holly Harris for completing her Honours Thesis project. Holly has also accepted a research job at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences (Whitby, Ontario).
April 2018
Congratulations to Holly Harris, who presented her Honours Thesis project, entitled "Does the End of History Illusion apply to how individuals perceive their life satisfaction as unfolding over time?", at the Annual Ontario Undergraduate Psychology Thesis Conference (Ryerson University).
October 2017
Dr. Busseri gave a public address, entitled “Well-being and aging: Understanding our beliefs and experiences of well-being across the lifespan”, sponsored by the Centre for Lifespan Development Research at Brock University.
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri. A manuscript based on his research on subjective well-being has been accepted for publication in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. See details here.
September 2017
We are pleased to welcome Holly Harris (Honours Thesis study) and Jennifer Mills (Research Assistant) to the Well-Being Research Lab.
June 2017
Lab members attended the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association (Toronto, ON). Mojan Naisani Samani presented a poster entitled, “The when of Zen: Mindfulness and temporal perspective”, based on her MA research. Carlie LeBlanc presented a poster entitled, “Harnessing young adults’ fantasies about their future” based on her Honours Thesis study. Kathryn Bunda presented a poster entitled, “Lay theories of health, self-rated health, and health behavior engagement” based on her Honours Thesis project. Erin Shanahan presented a poster entitled, “Life script theory and the belief that life gets better and better: A multi-country meta-analysis” based on her on-going research collaboration with Dr. Busseri. Congratulations to all!
April 2016
Congratulations to Mojan Naisani Samani (current MA student), who has accepted an offer of admission to the PhD program in Business Administration at the DeGroote School of Business in Management of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources at McMaster University, under the supervisor of Dr. Rick Hackett (beginning September 2017).
Congratulations to Carlie LeBlanc (BA, 2017; thesis student, 2016-2017), who has accepted an offer of admission to the MSW program at the University Toronto (beginning September 2017).
Congratulations to Kathryn Bunda (BA, 2016; thesis student, 2015-2016; lab RA, 2016-2017), who has accepted an offer of admission to the PhD program in Social Psychology at Iowa State University under the mentorship of Dr. Alison Phillips (beginning September 2017).
Congratulations to Lacey Sherk (BA, 2015; lab RA, 2014-2015), who has accepted an offer of admission to the MSW program at the University Toronto (beginning September 2017), and will be supported by an MA award from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
December 2016
Congratulations to Kathryn Bunda (BA, 2016). A manuscript based on her undergraduate Honours Thesis project, entitled “Lay theories of health, self-rated health, and health behavior intentions”, co-authored with Dr. Busseri has been accepted for publication at the Journal of Health Psychology. See details here.
September 2016
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri, whose research grant funding through SSHRC was profiled in a recent edition of the Brock News (story link here).
Congratulations to Erin Shanahan (Honours BA, 2015) and Dr. Busseri. A manuscript based on Erin’s undergraduate thesis project, entitled “Life gets better and better: Cultural life script theory and subjective life satisfaction trajectories among young adults”, has been accepted for publication in the European Journal of Personality.
We are pleased to welcome Carlie Le Blanc (Honours Thesis study) and Kathryn Bunda (Research Assistant) to Well-Being Research Lab.
June 2015
Lab members attended the biannual meeting of the Canadian Positive Psychology Association (Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON). Mojan Naisani Samani presented a poster entitled, “Mindfulness, temporal perspective, and subjective trajectories for life satisfaction”, based on her MA research. Erin Shanahan presented a poster entitled, “Life gets better and better: Cultural life script theory and subjective life satisfaction trajectories among young adults” based on her undergraduate research. And Dr. Busseri presented a paper entitled, “Optimism: The past, present, and future of a positive trait”. Congratulations to all!
May 2015
Dr. Busseri participated in a symposium entitled, “The trouble of believing in self-improvement”, at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science (Chicago, IL). His presentation was entitled, “The belief that ‘life gets better and better’: Is it really a positive sign?”
Congratulations to undergraduate student Kathryn Bunda (2015/2016) who has successfully completed her Honours Thesis project entitled, “Manipulating lay theories of health affects subjective health trajectories”. Kathryn also presented her thesis findings at the Ontario Psychology Undergraduate Thesis Conference (Wilfrid Laurier University). Great job Kathryn!
April 2015
Congratulations to Erin Shanahan – an undergraduate thesis alumna (2014/2015) and lab RA (2015/2016) – who has accepted an offer of admission for graduate studies in the Department of Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University under the direction of Dr. Anne Wilson beginning September 2016. Erin will also be funded by a Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Way to go Erin!
March 2015
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri. He has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for his Insight Grant application, “On the belief that life gets better and better, or worse and worse over time: Causes and consequences across the adult lifespan and around the world”.
February 2015
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri and collaborator Dr. Becky Choma. A manuscript based on their research on dispositional optimism has been published in the Journal of Positive Psychology. See details here.
December 2015
Congratulations to Helen (Dykstra) Merrick (BA, 2012). A manuscript based on her undergraduate Honours Thesis project, co-authored with Dr. Busseri, is now ‘in-press’ at the journal Motivation and Emotion. See details here.
October 2015
Congratulations to Samantha Metler (MA, 2015). A manuscript based on her MA thesis, co-authored with Dr. Busseri, has now been accepted for publication in the Journal of Personality. See details here.
September 2015
We are pleased to welcome Mojan Naisani Samani (MA program) and Kathryn Bunda (Honours Thesis) to Well-Being Research Lab.
March 2024
A manuscript authored by Dr. Busseri, entitled "Evaluating the Structure of Subjective Well-Being: Evidence From Three Large-Scale, Long-Term, National Longitudinal Studies ", has been accepted for publication in the journal Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. Details here.
January 2024
PhD student Brock DeGagne has begun a career as a Statistical and Research Analyst in the Department of Integrated Planning and Institutional Research at Assiniboine College in Brandon Manitoba. Congratulations Brock!
November 2023
Dr. Busseri was among the most cited researchers in the world (top 2% of all scientists) in 2022. See details here.
September 2023
We are pleased to welcome incoming Honours Thesis student Samantha Kszan to the Well-Being Research Lab.
June 2023
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri and former lab member Emily Erb (Honours BA, 2021) - a manuscript they co-authored, entitled "The happy personality revisited: Re-examining associations between Big Five personality traits and subjective well-being using meta-analytic structural equation modeling", has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Personality. Details here.
MA student Melissa Beaucage and PhD student Brock DeGagne presented research posters at the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association (Toronto, ON). Way to go Melissa and Brock!
Dr. Busseri presented a research talk, entitled "My life gets better and better! Examining the causes, correlates, and consequences of how individuals view their lives to be unfolding over time", at the Social/Personality Psychology preconference at the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association (Toronto, ON).
May 2023
Congratulations to MA student Melissa Beaucage and PhD student Brock DeGagne - each of whom has been awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship in support of their graduate studies for 2023-2024. Way to go Melissa and Brock!
April 2023
Congratulations to lab member Isabella Roberto for completing her undergraduate Honours Thesis, examining lay theories for social anxiety, and her Honours BA in Psychology this month. Way to go Isabella!
Congratulations to MA student Melissa Beaucage for winning a Spring Research Fellowship from the Department of Graduate Studies in support of her MA thesis research. Way to go, Melissa!
March 2023
Congratulations to MA student Melissa Beaucage for winning a Student Research Award from the Faculty of Social Sciences, in support of her thesis research examining individuals' beliefs about how life unfolds over time for people in their community, their country, and all of humanity. Way to go, Melissa!
February 2023
PhD student Brock DeGagne presented his thesis research examining the impact of temporal comparisons on the belief that life gets better and better over time in two research posters at the 2023 meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (Atlanta, GA), one at the Happiness and Well-Being preconference, and the other during the main conference event. Way to go Brock!
Dr. Busseri presented a research talk, entitled "My life gets better and better: Examining the causes and consequences of how individuals view their lives to be unfolding over time", at the Happiness and Well-Being preconference at the 2023 meeting of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (Atlanta, GA).
November 2022
Congratulations to PhD student Andrew Chung and Dr. Karen Arnell (both from the Attention Lab at Brock University), a manuscript co-authored with Dr. Busseri, entitled "Individual differences in naturally occurring affect predict conceptual breadth: Evidence for the importance of arousal by valence interactions", has been accepted for publication in the journal Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications. Way to go Andrew! Details here.
October 2022
Congratulations to lab members Brock DeGagne (MA 2020) and Emily Erb (Honours BA 2021) on celebrating their degrees at the Legacy Convocation held this month. Congratulations also to Michelle Martinez (Honours BA, 2022) on her convocation this month!
September 2022
We are pleased to welcome incoming MA student Melissa Beaucage (Lakehead University) and incoming Honours Thesis student Isabella Roberto to the Well-Being Research Lab. We are also pleased that former thesis student Michelle Martinez (Honours BA Psychology, 2022) will be a research assistant in the lab.
August 2022
Congratulations to Michelle Martinez (Honours BA Psyc 2022) for completing her Honours Thesis entitled, "Deviation from the Cultural Life Script and Life Satisfaction: Does Perceived Inadequacy Explain This Relationship Among Young Adults?", in the Well-Being Lab. Way to go Michelle!
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri and Dr. David Newman (postdoctoral scholar at the University of California, San Francisco). A co-authored paper entitled, "Happy Days: Resolving the Structure of Daily Subjective Well-Being, Between and Within Individuals" has been accepted for publication at the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. Details here.
June 2022
Current lab member Michelle Martinez presented a poster based on her undergraduate thesis research, entitled "Deviation from the cultural life script and life satisfaction: Does perceived inadequacy explain this relationship among young adults?", at the Annual Ontario Psychology Undergraduate Thesis Conference, hosted this year by Brock University. Way to go Michelle!
Congratulations to lab member Brock DeGagne (MA, Psychology 2020) for winning a Faculty of Social Sciences 2022 Spring Research Fellowship to support his PhD thesis research examining the impact of temporal comparisons on individuals' self-evaluations, affect, and motivation. Way to go Brock!
May 2022
Congratulations to Emily Erb, former Honours Thesis student (Honours BA in Psychology, 2022) and current lab RA: A two-study manuscript based on her thesis project, co-authored with Dr. Busseri, entitled "Examining the double-edge sword effects of lay theories for mental health on perceptions and treatment of others with mental health problems" has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology. Details here.
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri and former lab member Mojan Naisani Samani (MA in Psychology, 2017). A manuscript based on their research, entitled "Can My Life Get Better? Examining Lay Theories for Life Satisfaction Among Younger and Older Adults", has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Positive Psychology. Details here.
April 2022
Congratulations to Brock DeGagne (MA, Psychology 2020), who has been awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship to support his PhD research in the Well-Being Research lab examining the impact of temporal comparisons on individuals' temporal self-evaluations, affect and motivation. Way to go Brock!
Congratulations to Emily Erb (Honours BA, Psychology 2021), former Thesis student and current lab RA, who has been awarded a Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada to support her in the Master of Arts in Education Studies in School and Applied Child Psychology at The University of Western Ontario. Way to go Emily!
February 2022
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri. A research paper, entitled "Life Gets Better and Better’: National Differences in Recollected Past, Present, and Anticipated Future Life Satisfaction Around the World, Across Time, and in Relation to Societal Functioning", has been accepted for publication at the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Details here.
Congratulations to Brock DeGagne (MA 2020; current PhD student) for presenting research, co-authored with Dr. Busseri, "Temporal Self-Enhancement: Evaluating the Differential Emotional and Motivational Impact of Better Versus Worse Than Average Comparisons Concerning One’s Life in the Past, Present, or Future" at the Emotion Preconference to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (online). Brock also presented this research at the main SPSP conference.
December 2021
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri and Dr. Jordi Quoidbach (ESADE Business School, Spain), a co-authored paper entitled "The structure of everyday happiness is best captured by a latent subjective well-being factor" has been accepted for publication at the Journal of Research in Personality. Details here.
October 2021
Congratulations to former Honours Thesis student Lauren Kremble (Honours BA in Psychology, 2019) – a manuscript based on her thesis project co-authored with Dr. Busseri, entitled " 'The best is yet to come’: Examining the affective and motivational implications of reflective versus evaluative modes of thinking about a brighter future life" has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Experimental Social Psychology. Details here.
Congratulations to Tessa Mazachowsky (PhD Candidate) and Dr. Caitlin Mahy (both from the Developing Memory and Cognition Lab at Brock University) - a manuscript based on a collaborative project conducted with Dr. Busseri, entitled, " “These pretzels are making me thirsty” so I’ll have water tomorrow: A partial replication and extension of adults’ induced-state episodic foresight" has been accepted for publication in the journal PLOS One. Details here.
September 2021
We welcome Michelle Martinez as an Honours Thesis student for 2021-22. Michelle's thesis research will examine the 'life script' concept as it relates to how young adults view their lives as unfolding over time.
July 2021
Dr. Busseri presented a research paper, entitled "Evaluating the structure of subjective well-being in a large-scale experience sample", based on a research collaboration with Dr. Jordi Quoidbach (ESADE Business School, Spain), at the biannual meeting of the Association for Research in Personality (data blitz, online).
June 2021
Congratulations to Emily Erb (Honours BA, Psychology 2021) who presented her thesis research at the 51st Annual Ontario Psychology Undergraduate Thesis Conference hosted by McMaster University (online).
Congratulations to Brook Haight – undergraduate thesis alumna (2019/2020) and lab RA (2020/2021) – who presented research findings from a collaboration with Dr. Busseri and Dr. Teena Willoughby (Adolescent Development Lab, Brock University), entitled, "Can my life get more stressful? Mental health implications of believing stress increases over time", at the annual Canadian Psychological Association conference (online).
May 2021
Congratulations to Brook Haight – undergraduate thesis alumna (2019/2020) and lab RA (2020/2021) – a manuscript co-authored with Dr. Busseri, entitled "Examining the Implications of Perceiving One’s Future Health as a Goal or a Standard for Affect, Motivation, and Health Behaviour" has been accepted for publication in the journal Motivation and Emotion. Details here.
Congratulations to Emily Erb on completing her Honours Thesis, entitled, "Capable of Change or Stays the Same? Examining the Effects of Lay Theories of Mental Health on Perceptions of Others with Mental Health Problems". Great job Emily!
April 2021
Congratulations to Brook Haight – undergraduate thesis alumna (2019/2020) and lab RA (2020/2021) – who has accepted an offer of admission for graduate studies in the Department of Kinesiology at the University of British Columbia under the supervision of Dr. Eli Puterman beginning September 2021. Brook will also be funded by a Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR).
Congratulations to Emily Erb (current Honours Thesis student) who has accepted an offer of admission to the Master of Arts in Education Studies in School and Applied Child Psychology at The University of Western Ontario under the supervision of Dr. Gabrielle Lee beginning September 2021 . In other great news, Emily has received an Undergraduate Student Research Award (USRA, funded by NSERC) to work under the supervision of Dr. Caitlin May (director, Developing Memory & Cognition Lab at Brock University) during this coming Spring/Summer term.
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri, who has received an Insight Grant from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (2021 - 2026) to fund his research, entitled "Beliefs about how life unfolds over time: Content, causes, and consequences for successful aging across the adult lifespan." See media report here.
March 2021
Congratulations to Brock DeGagne (MA 2020; current PhD student). A manuscript based on his MA thesis, entitled "The impact of better- versus worse-than-average comparisons on beliefs about how life satisfaction is unfolding over time, affect, and motivation", has been accepted for publication at the European Journal of Social Psychology. Details here.
February 2021
Congratulations to Brock DeGagne (MA 2020; current PhD student) for presenting his MA thesis research at the Attitudes and Social Influence Preconference to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (online). Brock also presented his MA research at the main SPSP conference. Brock also recently received a Student Research Award from the Faculty of Social Sciences at Brock University.
Congratulations to Brook Haight (HBA 2020; current lab RA) for presenting her undergraduate Honours thesis research at the Health Preconference to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (online). Brook also presented her research at the main SPSP conference.
September 2020
Congratulations to former lab member Holly Harris and Dr. Busseri. A reply to a commentary on their 2019 publication based on Holly's Honours thesis project has been published in the Journal of Research in Personality. Details here.
We welcome new PhD student Brock DeGagne (MA, 2020), who completed his MA degree as part of the Well-Being Research Lab in August 2020. Brock's PhD research will be examining temporal and social comparisons in the context of how individuals view their lives to be unfolding over time.
We also welcome Emily Erb as an Honours Thesis student for 2020-21. Emily has been a research assistant in the lab for the past two years. This year, Emily's thesis research will examine the concept of 'lay theories' for mental health.
Brook Haight (Honours BA Psyc, 2020) joins the lab as a research assistant after successfully completing her Honours degree in May 2020 under Dr. Busseri's mentorship. This year, Brook will be continuing her research examining individuals' beliefs about their future health from a self-regulation perspective, as well as helping with various other projects in the lab.
August 2020
Congratulations to current lab member Brock DeGagne, who successfully defended his MA thesis, entitled "My life compared to others: Examining the impact of better or worse off comparisons on young adults' beliefs about how their life satisfaction is unfolding over time".
Congratulations to former lab member Taysa-Rhea Mise (MA, 2015). A manuscript based on her research conducted with Dr. Busseri, entitled "The full life revisited: Examining hedonia and eudaimonia as general orientations, motivates for activities, and experiences of wellbeing", has been accepted for publication at the journal International Journal of Wellbeing. Details here.
July 2020
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri, Dr. Carolyn Hafer (Brock University), and Dr. Becky Choma (Ryerson University). A manuscript based on their research, entitled "When will I get what I deserve? Examining personal belief in a just world using a temporally-expanded perspective", has been accepted for publication at the journal Personality and Individual Differences. Details here.
Congratulations to PhD student Andrew Chung and Dr. Karen Arnell (Attention Research Lab, Brock University) along with Dr. Busseri. A manuscript based on their research, entitled "Naturally occurring affect does not predict working memory performance: A latent variable modelling study", has been accepted for publication at the journal Psychological Research.
June 2020
Congratulations to Brook Haight (Honours BA, Psychology 2020) who presented her thesis research at the 50th Annual Ontario Psychology Undergraduate Thesis Conference at the University of Toronto (online).
May 2020
Congratulations to Brook Haight on completing her Honours Thesis, entitled, "Harnessing Beliefs About Future Health: The Impact of Viewing Anticipated Future Health as a Goal or a Standard on Perceptions of Health, Affect, Motivation, and Health Behaviour Intentions".
February 2019
Congratulations to Brock DeGagne for presenting some of his MA thesis research at the Happiness and Well-Being Preference to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (New Orleans, LA). In addition, Brock presented other research he is collaborating on with Dr. Busseri at the main SPSP conference.
Dr. Busseri presented a research talk on subjective well-being at the Happiness and Well-Being preference to the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (New Orleans, LA).
November 2019
Congratulations to former lab member Holly Harris and Dr. Busseri. A summary of Holly's Honours thesis research project was published in the blog, Character and Context, by the Society of Personality and Social Psychology. Details here.
September 2019
We are pleased to welcome Honours Thesis student Brook Haight to the Well-Being Research Lab.
Congratulations to former lab member Holly Harris. A manuscript based on her Honours thesis project, entitled "Is there an 'end of history illusion' for life satisfaction? Evidence from a three-wave longitudinal study", has been accepted for publication at the Journal of Research in Personality. Details here. Holly has recently started her MA in Critical Disabilities Studies at York University.
A media article describing some recent research from the lab was published in the Brock News.
Congratulations to former lab member Mojan Naisani Samani. A manuscript based on her MA thesis research, entitled "Examining the link between mindfulness and temporal perspective", has been accepted for publication at the journal Mindfulness. Details here. Mojan is currently completing her PhD in Business Administration at McMaster University.
August 2019
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri, Prof. Carolyn Hafer, and members of Prof. Hafer's research lab: Alicia Rubel (PhD, 2017), Carrie Drolet (PhD 2018), and Jenny Carrington (Honours BA 2019). A manuscript based on their research, entitled "A latent factor approach to belief in a just world and its association with well-being", has been accepted for publication at the journal Social Justice Research. Details here.
July 2019
Congratulations to former MA student Taysa-Rhea Mise (MA, 2014) and Dr. Busseri. A publication based on their research together, entitled "Bottom-up or top-down? Examining global and domain-specific evaluations of how one's life is unfolding over time", has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Personality. Details here.
June 2019
Dr. Busseri presented results from a research project, entitled "In search of the holy grail of happiness research: Long-lasting improvements in subjective well-being" at the biannual meeting of the Association for Research in Personality in Grand Rapids, Michigan.
May 2019
Congratulations to Lauren Kremble on completing her Honours Thesis project, entitled "Examining the effects of reflective versus evaluative thinking about one's future life"! Also, earlier this month Lauren presented her thesis research at the 49th Annual Ontario Psychology Undergraduate Thesis Conference at the University of Waterloo. Way to go Lauren!
April 2019
Congratulations to Erin Shanahan (former Honours Thesis student, 2014/15; current PhD student at Wilfrid Laurier U.). A co-authored manuscript based on her on-going research with Dr. Busseri, entitled "A systematic review of the relationship between perceived life script event age and valence" has been accepted for publication at Psychology and Aging. Details here
Congratulations to Holly Harris (Honours Thesis student, 2017/18) who has accepted an offer of admission to the MA in Critical Disabilities Studies program at York University (starting September 2019). Holly has also been awarded a SSHRC Joseph Bombardier Scholarship to support her graduate studies. Way to go Holly!
March 2019
Congratulations to Brock DeGagne (current MA student) who has been awarded an Ontario Graduate Scholarship in support of his MA research for 2019/20. Way to go Brock!
We welcome Emily Erb (2nd year Honours BA, Psychology) to the lab as a volunteer Research Assistant.
February 2019
Congratulations to Kathryn Bunda (former Honours Thesis student, 2015/16; current PhD student at Iowa State U.) who presented a research poster at the Health Preconference at the 2019 meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (Portland, OR), based on her on-going research with Dr. Busseri, entitled, "Subjective Trajectories for Self-Rated Health Predict Changes in Physical Health." UPDATE: Kudos also to Kathryn and Dr. Busseri now that a peer-reviewed publication based on this work, entitled "Subjective trajectories for self-rated health as a predictor of change in physical health over time: Results from a 18-year longitudinal study", has been accepted for publication in the journal Social Cognition. Details here.
Congratulations also to Erin Shanahan (former Honours Thesis student, 2014/15; current PhD student at Wilfrid Laurier U.) who presented a research poster at the Happiness and Well-Being Preconference at the 2019 meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (Portland, OR), based on her on-going research with Dr. Busseri, entitled, "Life gets better and better, or worse and worse, across the lifespan? A meta-analysis of the cultural life script."
January 2019
Congratulations to MA student Brock DeGagne. A manuscript based on his Honours thesis project at Brandon University, entitled "Spatial Frequency Thresholds for Detecting Latent Facial Signals of Threat", has been accepted for publication in the journal Perception. See details here.
October 2018
Congratulations to Holly Harris (Honours Thesis student, 2017/18) on her convocation - and a great news story on how her undergrad co-op experiences lead to a job in mental health education and research. Story details here.
September 2018
We are pleased to welcome incoming MA student Brock DeGagne (Brandon University) and Honours Thesis student Lauren Kremble to the Well-Being Research Lab.
August 2018
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri and former MA student Mojan Naisani Samani. A manuscript based on their research examining lay theories for life satisfaction has been accepted for publication in the Journal of Happiness Studies. See details here.
June 2018
Congratulations to Mojan Naisani Samani (MA, 2017) who presented a research poster at the joint meeting of the International Congress of Applied Social Psychology & the Canadian Psychology Association based on her on-going research with Dr. Busseri, entitled "The wandering mind: Examining general, spontaneous, and deliberate mind-wandering in relation to psychological functioning" (Montreal, Que).
May 2018
Dr. Busseri presented a paper, entitled "Does subjective well-being change over the long term? Results from a 20-year longitudinal study in America", at the 1st Scientific Meeting on Well-Being (Victoria University, Toronto).
Congratulations to current and former members of the Well-Being Research Lab, who presented research posters at the 4th Canadian Conference on Positive Psychology (Victoria University, Toronto): Erin Shanahan ("Life gets better and better, or worse and worse? A multi-country meta-analysis of the cultural life script"); Carlie LeBlanc and Mojan Naisani Samani ("In pursuit of a brighter future life: Examining the roles of fantasies and expectations in promoting goal attainment"); and Holly Harris ("Does the 'End of History Illusion' apply to how individuals perceive their life satisfaction as unfolding over time?").
Congratulations to Holly Harris for completing her Honours Thesis project. Holly has also accepted a research job at Ontario Shores Centre for Mental Health Sciences (Whitby, Ontario).
April 2018
Congratulations to Holly Harris, who presented her Honours Thesis project, entitled "Does the End of History Illusion apply to how individuals perceive their life satisfaction as unfolding over time?", at the Annual Ontario Undergraduate Psychology Thesis Conference (Ryerson University).
October 2017
Dr. Busseri gave a public address, entitled “Well-being and aging: Understanding our beliefs and experiences of well-being across the lifespan”, sponsored by the Centre for Lifespan Development Research at Brock University.
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri. A manuscript based on his research on subjective well-being has been accepted for publication in the journal Personality and Individual Differences. See details here.
September 2017
We are pleased to welcome Holly Harris (Honours Thesis study) and Jennifer Mills (Research Assistant) to the Well-Being Research Lab.
June 2017
Lab members attended the annual meeting of the Canadian Psychological Association (Toronto, ON). Mojan Naisani Samani presented a poster entitled, “The when of Zen: Mindfulness and temporal perspective”, based on her MA research. Carlie LeBlanc presented a poster entitled, “Harnessing young adults’ fantasies about their future” based on her Honours Thesis study. Kathryn Bunda presented a poster entitled, “Lay theories of health, self-rated health, and health behavior engagement” based on her Honours Thesis project. Erin Shanahan presented a poster entitled, “Life script theory and the belief that life gets better and better: A multi-country meta-analysis” based on her on-going research collaboration with Dr. Busseri. Congratulations to all!
April 2016
Congratulations to Mojan Naisani Samani (current MA student), who has accepted an offer of admission to the PhD program in Business Administration at the DeGroote School of Business in Management of Organizational Behavior and Human Resources at McMaster University, under the supervisor of Dr. Rick Hackett (beginning September 2017).
Congratulations to Carlie LeBlanc (BA, 2017; thesis student, 2016-2017), who has accepted an offer of admission to the MSW program at the University Toronto (beginning September 2017).
Congratulations to Kathryn Bunda (BA, 2016; thesis student, 2015-2016; lab RA, 2016-2017), who has accepted an offer of admission to the PhD program in Social Psychology at Iowa State University under the mentorship of Dr. Alison Phillips (beginning September 2017).
Congratulations to Lacey Sherk (BA, 2015; lab RA, 2014-2015), who has accepted an offer of admission to the MSW program at the University Toronto (beginning September 2017), and will be supported by an MA award from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada.
December 2016
Congratulations to Kathryn Bunda (BA, 2016). A manuscript based on her undergraduate Honours Thesis project, entitled “Lay theories of health, self-rated health, and health behavior intentions”, co-authored with Dr. Busseri has been accepted for publication at the Journal of Health Psychology. See details here.
September 2016
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri, whose research grant funding through SSHRC was profiled in a recent edition of the Brock News (story link here).
Congratulations to Erin Shanahan (Honours BA, 2015) and Dr. Busseri. A manuscript based on Erin’s undergraduate thesis project, entitled “Life gets better and better: Cultural life script theory and subjective life satisfaction trajectories among young adults”, has been accepted for publication in the European Journal of Personality.
We are pleased to welcome Carlie Le Blanc (Honours Thesis study) and Kathryn Bunda (Research Assistant) to Well-Being Research Lab.
June 2015
Lab members attended the biannual meeting of the Canadian Positive Psychology Association (Niagara-on-the-Lake, ON). Mojan Naisani Samani presented a poster entitled, “Mindfulness, temporal perspective, and subjective trajectories for life satisfaction”, based on her MA research. Erin Shanahan presented a poster entitled, “Life gets better and better: Cultural life script theory and subjective life satisfaction trajectories among young adults” based on her undergraduate research. And Dr. Busseri presented a paper entitled, “Optimism: The past, present, and future of a positive trait”. Congratulations to all!
May 2015
Dr. Busseri participated in a symposium entitled, “The trouble of believing in self-improvement”, at the annual meeting of the Association for Psychological Science (Chicago, IL). His presentation was entitled, “The belief that ‘life gets better and better’: Is it really a positive sign?”
Congratulations to undergraduate student Kathryn Bunda (2015/2016) who has successfully completed her Honours Thesis project entitled, “Manipulating lay theories of health affects subjective health trajectories”. Kathryn also presented her thesis findings at the Ontario Psychology Undergraduate Thesis Conference (Wilfrid Laurier University). Great job Kathryn!
April 2015
Congratulations to Erin Shanahan – an undergraduate thesis alumna (2014/2015) and lab RA (2015/2016) – who has accepted an offer of admission for graduate studies in the Department of Psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University under the direction of Dr. Anne Wilson beginning September 2016. Erin will also be funded by a Canada Graduate Scholarship from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada. Way to go Erin!
March 2015
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri. He has received funding from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada for his Insight Grant application, “On the belief that life gets better and better, or worse and worse over time: Causes and consequences across the adult lifespan and around the world”.
February 2015
Congratulations to Dr. Busseri and collaborator Dr. Becky Choma. A manuscript based on their research on dispositional optimism has been published in the Journal of Positive Psychology. See details here.
December 2015
Congratulations to Helen (Dykstra) Merrick (BA, 2012). A manuscript based on her undergraduate Honours Thesis project, co-authored with Dr. Busseri, is now ‘in-press’ at the journal Motivation and Emotion. See details here.
October 2015
Congratulations to Samantha Metler (MA, 2015). A manuscript based on her MA thesis, co-authored with Dr. Busseri, has now been accepted for publication in the Journal of Personality. See details here.
September 2015
We are pleased to welcome Mojan Naisani Samani (MA program) and Kathryn Bunda (Honours Thesis) to Well-Being Research Lab.