My research interests focus on the ways in which positive emotions affect individuals’ conceptualizations of themselves in relation to others and their environment. I utilize behavioral and psychophysiological measures to investigate the circumstances that cause individuals become open to affiliation and the physical and psychological effects of such openness, a state I describe as “other-focus.”
A Bodymind Perspective on Affiliation and Health
My bodymind model of affiliation and health (pictured above) postulates that individuals become open and attentive to other people in their immediate environment due to exposure to safety and security cues or stress that is appraised as manageable. These experiences initiate oxytocin secretion and increased vagal tone, which in turn initiate other-focused attention and positive emotions. Attentional and emotional changes result in positive other-focused cognition and behavior. Other-focused moments build resources for both the individual and the community as social bonds are formed through positive interactions. Such resources accumulate and compound over time, resulting in decreased stress, increased psychological and physical well-being and longevity.
By combining insights from multiple theoretical traditions, the bodymind model is able to make broad predictions concerning when and how an other-focused state may come to be elicited, the manner in which it is manifested, and its psychological, physiological and social consequences over time.