Years ago, Lisa Sansom, MAPP, of LVS Consulting started a list of positive psychology researchers, using a Google spreadsheet and filling in all the names of the researchers that she knew about from her U Penn MAPP studies. She has been so kind as to hand this project over to me so that we can now reach out to all of you positive psychology practitioners and enthusiasts together.
The aim of this database is to enable you to look up any positive psychology researcher or research topic in the world, by name or topic. By using a database, the list can easily be updated and expanded. My aim is to maintain and add to the database as much as I can and to make it publicly available. This means you are allowed to copy, print, export or republish the list as you see fit. (Please mention its source when you do) Since this is quite a task, I would really like to invite you to help me make the list more accurate and complete by leaving a comment below. Thank you so much and enjoy!
How to use this list?
You can choose to see the full list of entries at once by selecting ‘Show all entries‘ at the upper left corner of the list. Because of the loading time of the webpage, we set the default to 25 entries. By clicking on a certain column, you can sort the whole list alphabetically (A-Z) for that specific criterium, such as ‘First name’, ‘Last name’, ‘Area of research’ etc. Looking for a specific name? Try using the ‘Search:’ function at the upper right corner of the list. That might save you some time!
Who qualifies as a positive psychology researcher?
Reseachers who:
- Are affiliated with an institution or organization that has some form of ethics review committee that oversees and approves human subject research
- Have published in peer-reviewed journals appropriate to their field
- Consider themselves to be a researcher (litmus test)
- Conduct research in a field that is aligned with the Positive Psychology Center’s definition of positive psychology – i.e.: a field that is generally considered to be “positive” and advances the scientific knowledge of human flourishing and well-being.
Please note that the following table is not mobile-friendly. It’s best to view it on a desktop.
| First name | Last name | Area of research | Institute | Country | Website |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Acacia | Parks | positive interventions | Hiram College | USA | Visit |
| Albert | Bandura | agency, self-regulation | Stanford University | USA | Visit |
| Alex | Wood | personality, well-being, social life, positive clinical psychology | University of Manchester | UK | Visit |
| Allan | Luks | altruism | USA | Visit | |
| Anthony | Grant | coaching psychology, goal attainment | University of Sydney | Australia | Visit |
| Barbara | Fredrickson | positive emotions, flourishing | University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill | USA | Visit |
| Barry | Schwartz | choice, practical wisdom | Swarthmore College | USA | Visit |
| Carol | Kauffman | coaching | Harvard Medical School | USA | Visit |
| Carol | Dweck | Fixed mindset, growth mindset | Stanford University | USA | Visit |
| Christine | Carter | social well-being, emotional well-being, compassion, families, meaning | University of California | USA | Visit |
| Christopher | Feudtner | hope (pediatric palliative care) | Children's Hospital of Philadelphia | USA | Visit |
| Christopher | Peterson | character strengths, well-being | University of Michigan | USA | Visit |
| Dan | Bowling | well-being in law | Duke University | USA | Visit |
| Daniel | Gilbert | affective forecasting, choice, social perception | Harvard University | USA | Visit |
| David | Cooperrider | appreciative inquiry | Case Western Reserve University | USA | Visit |
| David | Myers | happiness, group influence, social-serving bias | Hope College | USA | Visit |
| Ed | Diener | subjective well-being, happiness, satisfaction with life, national well-being | University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign | USA | Visit |
| Elizabeth | Dunn | self-knowledge, affective forecasting, implicit social cognition, happiness | University of British Columbia | Canada | Visit |
| Ellen | Langer | mindfulness, decision making, aging, illusion of control | Harvard University | USA | Visit |
| George | Vaillant | aging, adult development | Harvard Medical School | USA | Visit |
| Ilona | Boniwell | perceived time use, well-being, positive education, coaching, time perspective | University of East London | UK | Visit |
| Iris | Mauss | emotional self-regulation | University of Denver | USA | Visit |
| Isaac | Prilleltensky | community well-being | University of Miami | USA | Visit |
| James | Maddux | self-regulation, self-efficacy | George Mason University | USA | Visit |
| James | Pawelski | philosophy, positive humanities | University of Pennsylvania | USA | Visit |
| James | Prochaska | change | University of Rhode Island | USA | Visit |
| James | Pennebaker | writing and health | University of Texas | USA | Visit |
| Jane | Gillham | resilience | University of Pennsylvania | USA | Visit |
| Jason | van Allen | clinical | University of Kansas | USA | Visit |
| Jeanne | Nakamura | Quality of Life research center, engagement, creativity, good work, againg, mentoring | Claremont Graduate University | USA | Visit |
| John | Gottman | relationships | Gottman Relationship Institute | USA | Visit |
| Jonathan | Haidt | morality, elevation, awe, admiration | University of Virginia | USA | Visit |
| Karen | Reivich | resilience, Penn resiliency project, comprehensive soldier fitness | University of Pennsylvania | USA | Visit |
| Kenneth | Pargament | spirituality | Bowling Green State University | USA | Visit |
| Kim | Cameron | positive organizational scholarship, organizational effectiveness, leadership, organizational culture | Michigan Ross Business School | USA | Visit |
| Laura | King | self perception, narrative contruction, well-being | University of Missouri | USA | Visit |
| Maree | Roche | Metamodel Self-determination, leadership | WINTEC | New Zealand | Visit |
| Martin | Seligman | learned helplessness, optimism, well-being | University of Pennsylvania | USA | Visit |
| Michael | Steger | quality of life therapy, meaning in life, health, intimate relationships, coping, culture | Colorado State University | USA | Visit |
| Mihaly | Csikszentmihalyi | flow, engagement, well-being at work, creativity, peak performance | Claremont Graduate University | USA | Visit |
| Nansook | Park | well-being | University of Michigan | USA | Visit |
| Paul | Rozin | cultural psychology, purity, food | University of Pennsylvania | USA | Visit |
| Paul | Wong | meaning | International Network on Personal Meaning | Canada | Visit |
| Peter | Salovey | emotional intelligence, moods, health protective behaviours | Yale University | USA | Visit |
| Ray | Fowler | physical health | (retired) | USA | Visit |
| Rick | Snyder | hope, forgiveness | University of Kansas | USA | Visit |
| Robert | Biswas-Diener | coaching, cultural happiness | Portland State University | USA | Visit |
| Robert | Kegan | adult education, adult development, adult learning, constructive development, subject-object theory | Harvard Graduate School of Education | USA | Visit |
| Robert | Emmons | gratitude, thankfulness, positive interventions, personal strivings | University of California | USA | Visit |
| Roy | Baumeister | emotion, self-regulation, ego-depletion, meaning | Florida State University | USA | Visit |
| Ruut | Veenhoven | World Database of Happiness, social conditions for human happiness | Erasmus University | Netherlands | Visit |
| Ryan | Niemiec | character strengths, mindfulness | VIA Institute on Character | USA | Visit |
| Shane | Lopez | character strengths, hope, well-being | Gallup Organization | USA | Visit |
| Sonja | Lyubomirsky | happiness, flourishing | University of California | USA | Visit |
| Stephen | Post | altruism | Stony Brook University | USA | Visit |
| Tayyab | Rashid | strengths | University of Toronto | Canada | Visit |
| Todd | Kashdan | curiosity, gratitude, mindfulness, savoring, purposeful living | George Mason University | USA | Visit |
| Tom | Rath | character strengths, organizational well-being, employee engagement, leadership | Gallup Organization | USA | Visit |
| Veronika | Huta | well-being, eudaimonia, excellence | University of Ottawa | Canada | Visit |
| Edward | Deci | motivation, self-determination theory | University of Rochester | USA | Visit |
| Angela | Duckworth | personality trait grit, academic success | University of Pennsylvania | USA | Visit |
| Jane | Dutton | positive organizational behavior, high quality connections | University of Michigan | USA | Visit |
| Adam | Grant | work motivation, prosocial helping and giving behaviors, job design and meaningful work, initiative and proactive behaviors, burnout, leadership | Wharton University of Pennsylvania | USA | Visit |
| Daniel | Kahneman | Formulation of Prospect Theory, Decision-Making, Judgment, Hedonic Psychology | Princeton University | USA | Visit |
| Fred | Luthans | Positive Organizational Behavior, Psychological Capital | University of Nebraska | USA | Visit |
| Richard | Ryan | Motivation, Description of Self-Determination Theory | Australian Catholic University | Australia | Visit |
| Carol | Ryff | Eudaimonic Well-Being, Positive Health, and Aging | University of Wisconsin | USA | Visit |
| Kennon | Sheldon | Goals and Well-Being, the “Self-Concordance Model” of healthy Goal-Striving | University of Missouri | USA | Visit |
| Dacher | Keltner | emotion, social interaction, negotiating morality, power, status | UC Berkeley | USA | Visit |
| Everett | Worthington | forgiveness | Virginia Commonwealth University | USA | Visit |
| Donald | Clifton | strengths | University of Nebraska-Lincoln | USA | Visit |
| Shane | Lopez | hope | USA | Visit | |
| Aaron | Jarden | flourishing, well-being | Auckland University of Technology | New Zealand | Visit |
| Sue | Langley | positive workplaces, leaders and teams | Langley Group | Australia | Visit |
| Susan | David | emotional skills, leadership, and coaching effectiveness | Harvard University | USA | Visit |
| Dave | Webb | forensic psychology | University of Sheffield | Spain | Visit |
| Robert | Vallerand | intrinsic and extrinsic motivation | Université du Québec à Montréal | Canada | Visit |
| Michelle | Fortier | pediatric pain | USA | Visit | |
| Emiliana | Simon-Thomas | health and happiness to social affiliation, caregiving, and collaborative relationships | UC Berkeley | USA | Visit |
| Tom | Gilovich | causal attribution, emotion, mood, affect judgment, and decision making social cognition |
Cornell | USA | Visit |
| Jim | Harter | relationships between work-unit employee engagement and business results | University of Nebraska-Lincoln | USA | Visit |
| Gabriel | Grant | sustainable development | Yale University | USA | Visit |
| Sue | Roffey | positive relationships, behavior | University of Western Sydney | Australia & UK | Visit |
| Heidi | Grant | motivation | Columbia University | USA | Visit |
| Tim | Kasser | materialism and well-being | Knox College | USA | Visit |
| Shelly | Taylor | social psychology, health psychology, and social cognition | University of California, Los Angeles | USA | Visit |
| Paul | Zak | nueroeconomics and oxytocin | Claremont Graduate University | USA | Visit |
| Shawn | Achor | Positive Psychology, finding success through happiness | Harvard University | USA | Visit |
| Richard | Davidson | kindness, compassion, altruism, forgiveness, mindfulness and well-being | University of Wisconsin-Madison | USA | Visit |
| Salvatore | R. Maddi | personality, psychopathology, health psychology, creativity | University of California, Irvine | USA | Visit |
| Stefan | Schulenberg | clinical-disaster psychology, meaning and purpose in life, positive psychology, psychological assessment, and forensic psychology | University of Mississippi | USA | Visit |
| Jamie | Gruman | well-being in the workplace | University of Guelph | Canada | Visit |
| Marie-Helene | Budworth | Learning, motivation, transfer of training, group process | York University | USA | Visit |
| Lea | Waters | positive psychology, positive education, positive organisations and positive parenting | University of Melbourne | Australia | Visit |
| Lucie | Mandeville | humanist and positive psychology | Université de Sherbrooke | Canada | Visit |
| Carmelo | Vazquez | positive emotions in Clinical psychology | Complutense University of Madrid | Spain | Visit |
| Dianne | Vella-Brodrick | positive education and workplace well-being | University of Melbourne | Australia | Visit |
| Antonella | Delle Fave | optimal living and positive health | University of Milan | Italy | Visit |
| Stewart | Donaldson | health promotion, positive & organizational psychology, career development, cross-cultural and international evaluation and research, and applied research methods | Claremont Graduate University | USA | Visit |
| Maria Elena | Garassini | virtues and strengths and the concept of flow and resilience | Metropolitan University | Venezuela | Visit |
| Nick | Haslam | dehumanization, essentialism, folk psychiatry, objectification, and stigma | University of Melbourne | Australia | Visit |
| John | Helliwell | Well-Being, Social Capital, Applied Macroeconomics, International Economics, Comparative Economic Growth, Natural Resource Economics | University of British Columbia | Canada | Visit |
| Rose | Inza-Kim | reality therapy | Korea Counseling Center | Korea | Visit |
| Hans Henrik | Knoop | learning and creativity in education and professional work | Aarhus University | Denmark | Visit |
| Marlena | Kossakowska | Clinical & health psychology, resilience, stress, coping, and stress management | University of Social Sciences and Humanities | Poland | Visit |
| Charles | Martin-Krumm | links between optimism and cognitive, behavioral, and emotional variables | IUFM of Rennes – University of Western Brittany | France | Visit |
| Richard | Layard | mental health, wellbeing, labour, unemployment, educational policy, happiness | London School of Economics | UK | Visit |
| Helena | Marujo | Happiness and applications to organizational, community and national contexts | University of Lisbon | Portugal | Visit |
| Mario | Mikulincer | attachment styles in adulthood, personality processes in interpersonal relationships, evolutionary psychology, human learned helplessness and depression, trauma and post-traumatic processes, coping with stress, and qualitative research of emotional states | Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzlyia | Israel | Visit |
| Luis Miguel | Neto | Appreciative Inquiry , Solution Focus Approach, Developing Sense of Humour or Cafe World | University of Lisbon | Portugal | Visit |
| Kaiping | Peng | intricate relationship between cultures and social cognition | University of California at Berkeley | USA | Visit |
| Sarah | Pressman | Stress, Positive Emotions, Physiological Pathways (e.g., endocrine, cardiovascular), Health Psychology, Social Relationships | University of California, Irvine | USA | Visit |
| Willibald | Ruch | Positive Psychology, humor, test construction, dispositions toward laughter and ridicule | University of Zurich | Switzerland | Visit |
| Marei | Salama-Younes | positive psychology and the psychology of physical activity | Helwan University | Egypt | Visit |
| Kamlesh | Singh | Positive Psychology, Applied Positive Psychology, Environmental Psychology, Psychometrics, Community Psychology, and Rural Women and Adolescents | Indian Institute of Technology Delhi | India | Visit |
| Alena | Slezåckovå | hope, meaning | Masaryk University | Czech Republic | Visit |
| Alejandro Castro | Solano | test construction, leadership and positive psychology | University of Palermo | Italy | Visit |
| Philip | Streit | Psychotherapy, Health, Leadership and Coaching | Karl-Franzens-University Graz | Austria | Visit |
| Sombat | Tapanya | violence prevention in children and youth. | Chiang Mai University | Thailand | Visit |
| Margarita | Tarragona | collaborative and narrative therapies and the implications of Positive Psychology for therapy and consultation | Universidad Iberoamericana | Mexico | Visit |
| Ewa | Trzebinska | Cognitive psychology of personality psychology, mental disorders and psychotherapy | Warsaw University | Poland | Visit |
| Joar | Vitterso | Quality of life, positive psychology, methodology, tourism | University of Tromsø | Norway | Visit |
| Lei | Wang | leadership, social networks, and team knowledge transfer | University of California at Berkeley | USA | Visit |
| Marie | Wissing | Positive Psychology, Psychosocial Health, Neuropsychology, Multi-disciplinary research in health and well-being | North West University | South Africa | Visit |
| Philip | Zimbardo | Aggression, conflict, peace, attitudes/beliefs, causal attribution, helping, prosocial behavior, intergroup relations, interpersonal processes, personality, individual differences, persuasion, social influence, and social cognition | Harvard University | USA | Visit |
| Jacquelynne S. | Eccles | family and school influences on development; development in high-risk settings; development of self-esteem, activity preferences, and task choice; adolescent development; identity formation; biosocial influences and development; gender role development; and the role of ethnicity in development and socialization | University of Michigan | USA | Visit |
| Michael | Ungar | resilience among children, youth and families and how they together survive adversity in culturally diverse ways | Dalhousie University | Canada | Visit |
| Kimberly | Schonert-Reichl | child and adolescent social and emotional learning (SEL) and development with a particular emphasis on identifying the processes and mechanisms that foster positive development, such as empathy, optimism, and altruism | University of British Columbia | British Columbia | Visit |
| Mark T. | Greenberg | developmental processes in risk and non-risk populations with a specific emphasis on aggression, violence, and externalizing disorders | Pennsylvania State University | USA | Visit |
| Reed W. | Larson | Adolescence; organized youth activities and programs; youth practice; adolescence and globalization | University of Illinois | USA | Visit |
| Suniya S. | Luthar | vulnerability and resilience among various populations including youth in poverty and children in families affected by mental illness | Arizonia State University | USA | Visit |
| Julie F. | Troum | motivational issues musicians face during training activities with respect to the individual needs, well-being, and personal satisfaction of the training musician | University of South Florida | USA | Visit |
| Corey L.M. | Keyes | social psychology and mental health | Emory College | USA | Visit |
| Kate | Hefferon | Post-traumatic growth among female breast cancer survivors, existential psychology, optimal experiences, the psychology of physical activity and interpretive phenomenological analysis (IPA) | University of East London | UK | Visit |
| Itai | Ivtzan | combination of psychology and spirituality, positive psychology, psychological & spiritual growth, consciousness, and meditation | The University of East London | UK | Visit |
| Tim | Lomas | meditation on men’s wellbeing, using a mixed-methods design comprising narrative interviews, cognitive testing, and EEG measurement | University of East London | UK | Visit |
| C. Richard | Snyder | Hope, Forgiveness, Life Satisfaction, Well-Being Motivation, Goal Setting Personality, Individual Differences Research Methods, Assessment Self and Identity, Social Cognition, |
University of Kansas | USA | Visit |
| Roger | Wood | neurobehavioural issues | Swansea University | UK | Visit |
| Lee | Newman | behaviors related to the quality of thinking and decision making in the workplace | IE University | Madrid | Visit |
| Felicia A. | Huppert | psychological well-being or positive mental health and the relationship between emotion and cognition | Cambridge University | UK | Visit |
| June | Gruber | positive emotion disturbance | University of Colorado Boulder | USA | Visit |
| Marilyn | Price-Mitchell | child and adolescent development and youth civic engagement | Fielding Graduate University | USA | Visit |
| Ad | Bergsma | happiness at work | Erasmus University Rotterdam | Netherlands | Visit |
| Hein | Zegers | Positive Psychology and the science of Well-Being | University of Humanistic Studies | Netherlands | Visit |
| Monique | Sternin | Positive Deviance approach | Tufts University | USA | Visit |
| Roger | Swartz | acilitation, leadership, managing change and conflict, and developing effective work groups | Harvard University | USA | Visit |
| Ian | Rothmann | prospering of people at work, the antecedents and outcomes thereof, and intervention programmes that could contribute to prospering of individuals and organisations | North-West University | South Africa | Visit |
| Linda | Theron | South African communities and youth define resilience, and how our youths’ processes of resilience are embedded in local culture | North-West University | South Africa | Visit |
| Tumi | Khumalo | Optimizing the potential of the youth | North-West University | South Africa | Visit |
| John Paul | Stephens | Psychology of coordination, performance adaptation, performativity/practice, organizational aesthetics, mindfulness/attention, organizational routines and knowledge, high-quality connections, character strengths & strengths-based feedback | Case Western Reserve University | USA | Visit |
| Richard | Lerner | life-span human development, social change, relations between adolescents and their peers, families, schools, and communities | Tufts University | USA | Visit |
| Bart | Tkaczyk | research-based practice and practice-informed research | University of California at Berkeley | USA | Visit |
| Rodolfo | Mendoza-Denton | Intergroup Relations, Stigma, Prejudice, Culture, Education | USA | Visit | |
| Michael | McCullough | forgiveness and gratitude | University of Miami | USA | Visit |
| Richard | Davidson | emotions, kindness, compassion | University of Wisconsin-Madison | USA | Visit |
| Jamil | Zaki | affective science, empathy, positive emotions | Stanford Social Neuroscience Laboratory | USA | Visit |
| Daniel | Batson | altruism, empathic concern, and psychology of religion. | University of Tennessee | USA | Visit |
| Timothy | Sharp | emotional fitness, happiness | RMIT University | USA | Visit |
| Ann Marie | Roepke | posttraumatic growth and positive interventions | University of Pennsylvania | USA | Visit |
| Christine | Robitschek | Personal Growth Initiative | Texas Tech University | USA | Visit |
| Jennifer | Aaker | meaning, giving, well-being | Stanford Graduate School of Business | USA | Visit |
| Shauna | Shapiro | mindfulness, emotional intelligence | Santa Clara University | USA | Visit |
| Matthew | Killingsworth | happiness | Harvard University | USA | Visit |
| Robert | Haringsma | effects of self-help, self-discipline, self-confidence | VU University Amsterdam | The Netherlands | Visit |
| S. Katherine | Nelson | joy, positive parenthood, well-being | University of California | USA | Visit |
| Kristen | Layous | well-being, happiness, positive interventions | Stanford University | USA | Visit |
| John | Coffey | developmental psychology, well-being, human plasticity | Claremont Graduate University | USA | Visit |
| Margaret L. | Kern | healthy functioning, psychosocial processes underlying health | University of Melbourne | Australia | Visit |
| Laurence | Steinberg | positive psychology of adolescence, behavioral development | Temple University | USA | Visit |
| Mark D. | Holder | science of happiness, happiness in children | Memorial University of Newfoundland | Canada | Visit |
| Michael | Pluess | developmental plasticity, psychological development | University of London | United Kingdom | Visit |
| Thomas | Chan | good mentoring, hedonic and eudaimonic well-being, flow, and purpose in retirement | Claremont Graduate University | USA | Visit |
| Jessica | Borelli | close relationships and emotion in children and adults | Pomona college | USA | Visit |
| Kendall | Bronk | Adolescent development | Claremont Graduate University | USA | Visit |
| Michael | Warren | meditation, prayer, well-being | Claremont Graduate University | USA | Visit |
| Steve | Cole | genetics, well-being | UCLA | USA | Visit |
| Sarah | Algoe | gratitude, emotions in social interactions | University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill | USA | Visit |
| Laura | Wray-Lake | social development in youth | University of Rochester | USA | Visit |
Which positive psychology researchers do you know that are not included yet?
Please leave a comment below with your suggestion so that we have a list of researchers to add in one place and so that others can see your suggestion. In case you’d like to submit a headshot of the researcher along with your suggestion, please send it to info@positivepsychology.com. Thank you!
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