Director and Principal Investigator
Claudia Haase is an Associate Professor of Human Development and Social Policy in the School of Education and Social Policy and (by courtesy) of Psychology. She is also a faculty member at the Northwestern University Interdepartmental Neuroscience program, a faculty associate at the Institute of Policy Research, and a faculty affiliate at the Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences and the Buffett Institute for Global Studies at Northwestern University. | Claudia’s CV, Faculty Website, Google Scholar
Postdoctoral Scholars
Ivanka Ristanovic is a T32 postdoctoral fellow in the Institute for Innovations in Developmental Sciences. Her research focuses on stress related processes and negative affect reactivity in the context of psychosis pathogenesis. She received her Ph.D. in clinical psychology at Northwestern University (Weinberg) and completed a psychology residency at The Ohio State University Wexner Medical Center. In her free time, Ivanka enjoys spending time with her senior, one-eyed dog, enjoying the lakefront, and exploring new restaurants with friends. | Ivanka’s Google Scholar, LinkedIn
Graduate Students
Chen-Wei “Felix” Yu is a fourth-year PhD student in the Human Development and Social Policy program. His research interests revolve around two core human affective phenomena: emotion and motivation. Specifically, he is interested in examining how and why people regulate their behaviors and emotions and others’, as well as whether the “how” and “why” play different roles in the regulatory outcomes. He hopes to develop interventions and inform policies enabling people to capitalize on their emotion and motivation to flourish in multiple critical aspects of their lives, such as long-term goal pursuits, significant relationships, and health. | Felix’s Google Scholar, LinkedIn, Website
Şebnem Ture is a Ph.D. candidate in the Personality, Development, and Health program at Northwestern University’s Psychology Department. She studies how cultural and historical crises shape identity, emotion, and well-being across the lifespan through stories of lived experience. Her work centers on narrative identity, collective memory, and the ways emotion and storytelling shape meaning-making, with an eye toward connecting personal and collective contexts across different kinds of crises and conflicts. | Sebnem’s Website
Beckett Sands is a first-year PhD student in the Human Development and Social Policy program. He is interested in using advance computational methods to learn how concepts, such as positivity resonance and attachment style, can facilitate or discourage healthy relationships. Outside of the lab, you can find Beckett boxing, petting random dogs on the street, or working on his standup comedy.
Research Coordinator
Connor Caserio is a post-baccalaureate fellow in the School of Education and Social Policy. Connor’s research interests include the role of low-arousal positive emotions like contentment and gratitude (as opposed to high-arousal positive emotions like joy and excitement) in fostering well-being, the intersection of narrative analysis and emotion research, and addiction recovery as narrative identity transformation. Outside the lab, he enjoys spending time with friends, reading, and watching soccer. | Connor’s LinkedIn
Undergraduate Students
Angela Zhong is a senior undergraduate student studying Psychology, Neuroscience, Data Science, HCI, and Design. Her research interests focus on integrating multi-level, multi-method approaches to investigate the dynamic interactions between emotion and cognition, with an emphasis on using computational modeling to identify latent psychological and neurocognitive mechanisms. Outside of research, Angela enjoys snowboarding, photography, and traveling. | Angela’s LinkedIn
Quira Kennerly is a third-year undergraduate studying Psychology and Asian Languages and Cultures focused in Korean, with a minor in Global Health. She is interested in cross-cultural psychology; how different cultural norms and values shape interpersonal relationships amongst different populations and different aspects of multicultural individuals and their overall emotional and social development. Outside of the lab, Quira enjoys reading and crocheting in her free time.
Allison Kim is a third-year undergraduate student studying Psychology and Journalism. She is interested in narrative research within both relationship science and personality, specifically examining how these areas influence well-being and conflict resolution outcomes in individuals and couples. Outside of the lab, Allison enjoys exploring different Chicago neighborhoods, reading, and watching movies at cool independent theaters.
Recent Alumni
Matías Martínez | Google Scholar