Biography

I am a Lecturer (NZ equivalent of Assistant Professor) in the School in Psychology at the University of Auckland. My research centres on the ways in which other people matter in the pursuit of a good life. Specifically, I have three main lines of research examining (a) social interactions and well-being, (b) well-being and morality, and (c) moral improvement. To study these phenomena in ecologically valid ways, I use a diverse methodological toolkit, including experience sampling, naturalistic audio recordings, informant reports, and personality change interventions. Prior to joining the University of Auckland in 2026, I was an Assistant Professor at Washington University in St. Louis and a MindCORE Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Pennsylvania. I received my PhD from UC Davis and my BA (Honours) from the University of Melbourne. For more details, please see my CV.

In my personal life, I strive to promote well-being by living vegan and have pledged to give to the most effective animal welfare and global poverty causes. For fun, I am an avid Brazilian Zouk dancer, a beginner handpan player, a long-time classical singer, rock-climber, and dog-mom to my Pomeranian, Kumara. Thanks for visiting my website!

Interests
  • Well-Being
  • Moral Psychology
  • Social Interactions
  • Personality
Education
  • PhD in Psychology, 2020

    University of California, Davis

  • BA (Hons.) in Psychology, 2015

    The University of Melbourne

Research Programs

Moral Improvement

Moral Improvement

What inspires people to become more moral?

Morality and Well-Being

Morality and Well-Being

Is there a tradeoff between well-being and morality?

Social Interactions and Well-Being

Social Interactions and Well-Being

What kinds of social interactions matter for well-being?

Recent Publications

(2025). Are women really (not) more talkative than men? A registered report of binary gender similarities/differences in daily word use. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

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(2025). ESM-Q: A consensus-based quality assessment tool for experience sampling method items. Behavior Research Methods.

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(2025). Improving the measurement of the Big Five via alternative formats for the BFI-2. Journal of Personality Assessment.

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(2024). How and why people want to be more moral. Journal of Personality.

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Resources

Job Market Resources

Job market materials, reflections on my job market experiences, and other resources.