The Personality and
Well-Being Lab focuses on understanding the factors,
specially financial, that affect human happiness and the
benefits of happiness to individuals.
Past research suggests that once basic needs are satisfied, the
connection between income and subjective well-being is minimal,
and materialism leads to diminished well-being. Results from
recent work (Howell & Hill, 2009) suggest that experiential
purchases are more likely than material purchases to make us
happy. Yet, despite the need to understand how people can use
their income to increase their well-being, surprisingly little
is known about the processes by which one may resist urges to
buy material items and invest in experiential living. The
primary aim of the PWB Lab is to arrive at a more thorough
understanding of the processes that encourage materialism and
how individuals can use their discretionary income to increase
their well-being.
Current CV.
To take our current survey (approximately 20 minutes long),
please
Click Here
For more online studies on well-being please visit:
www.onlinepsychresearch.co.uk
http://www.in-mind.orgDirector:
Dr. Ryan T. Howell is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at
San Francisco State University. He received his B.S. in
Psychology, cum laude, from Westmont College (1998) and his
Ph.D. in Personality Psychology from the University of
California, Riverside (2005). Howell currently teaches courses
in psychological statistics and research methods and serves as
graduate advisor. Howell's main research interest is developing
statistical models to predict subjective well-being from
financial choices and daily activities. For example, in Howell's
most resent meta-analysis his findings show that for all people,
especially those living in the developing world, savings matters
most when it comes to long term happiness. Howell is also
interested in the role increased well-being plays in improved
physiological health.
Research Project Manager: Dr. Colleen J. Howell
graduated summa cum laude from Westmont College in 1999 with her
B.S. in Biology and received her Ph.D. in Environmental Sciences
(2006) from University of California, Riverside. Her current
psychological interests involve determining the moderators of
the income-SWB relation in developing countries. Some of her
most recent work has involved examining the strength of the
income-SWB relation among non-Western samples via a
meta-analysis as well as through a case study of poor indigenous
farmers in Peninsular Malaysia. She hopes to eventually merge
her environmental and SWB research interests to examine the
extent to which better environmental conditions lead to greater
happiness.
Lab Coordinator: Mark
Kurai is a graduate student and lab manager for the Personality
& Well-Being Lab. He takes an interdisciplinary approach to
studying the impact of stigmatizing events on people who
identify with multiple minority identities. His research focuses
on three interrelated topics: the precursors that influence
appraisal, the process of threat appraisal, and the responses to
threat. He is currently investigating the role of personality
and emotion in volitional coping responses and goal attainment.
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