I am a doctoral candidate in social psychology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill as part of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Lab.
How did humans evolve to be social? What does it mean when we say we "need" friendship to be healthy? Is it possible that your physiological state can influence your social behavior, for the better?
I conduct research to answer these important questions and more via my socio-autonomic spiral model of social connection. My research focuses on the intertwined relationships that link physiological processes and social behavior to make us the social animals that we are.
Recent publications
Kok, B.E. & Fredrickson, B.L. (2010). Upward spirals of the heart: Autonomic flexibility, as indexed by vagal tone, reciprocally and prospectively predicts positive emotions and social connectedness. Biological Psychology, 85(3), 342-346. PDF
Pek, J., Sterba, S. K., Kok, B.E. & Bauer, D. J. (2009). Estimating and visualizing nonlinear relations among latent variables: A semiparametric approach. Multivariate Behavioral Research, 44, 407-436.
Kok, B.E., Catalino, L. I. & Fredrickson, B.L. (2008). “The broadening, building, buffering effects of positive emotions.” In S. J. Lopez (Ed.), Positive psychology: Exploring the best of people: Vol. 3 Capitalizing on emotional experiences. (pp.1-19). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Company.PDF
Recent talks
Kok, B.E. (October, 2011). Upward spirals of the heart: Vagal influences on social connection interventions. Society of Experimental Social Psychologists. Washington, D.C. PDF
Kok, B.E. (January, 2011). Vagal tone and social connection interventions. Society for Personality and Social Psychology. San Antonio, TX. PDF