Research Interests

My research is at the interface of personality psychology, social psychology, and the psychology of emotion. My primary interest is in the psychology of gratitude. I am mainly interested in the well-springs, assessment, outcomes, and enhancement of gratitude in children and adolescents and am particularly excited about studying the relation between gratitude and well-being. I am currently an Associate Editor for The Journal of Positive Psychology.

In the Media

“Do Your Kids Need an ‘Attitude of Gratitude’?,” ABC2 News, January 24, 2010.

“Why Counting Blessings is so Hard for Teenagers,” Newsweek, November 24, 2009.

“How to Raise a Grateful Child,” Edmonton Journal, November 2009.

“Ungrateful Teen in Your House?: You’re Not Alone,” Associated Press, November 17, 2009.

“The Grateful Child: Are Children Who Learn to Count Their Blessings Healthier and Happier?,” Great Schools, November 2009.

“Being Thankful a Key to Being Healthy,” The City Wire, November 25, 2009.

“Thanks to Gratitude!,” Positive Psychology News Daily, November 5, 2009.

“Fishful Thinking: Cultivating Gratitude in Youth” and the accompanying materials for the "Gratitude Works" program that I helped create, NASP Communiqué, November 2009.

“Daily Thanksgiving: Recipe for a Happy Family,” Western New York Family, November 2009.

“Grateful Kids are Happier Kids,” Times Colonist, October 9, 2009.

“Why Emotional Intelligence Matters,” Scholastic, August 2009.

“Happiness,” WHRU’s Hofstra’s Morning Wake-Up Call
[Hofstra University’s radio station], February 10, 2009.

“Here’s Some Currency to Count Upon,” The Times, Trenton, December 2, 2008.

“Reaping The Health Benefits of Gratitude with the Science of Thankfulness,”
WNYC’s The Takeway [a national morning news program], November 27, 2008.

“Giving Thanks,” Better Homes and Gardens, November 2008.

“Gratitude Check,” Family Circle, November 1, 2008.

“The Benefits of Gratitude,” The Providence Journal, November 24, 2007.

“Many Ways to Show Gratitude in Holiday,” The Herald-Sun, November 21, 2007.

“Thank You,” Metro Parent, November 2007.

“Raising Grateful Children,” Newsday, September 17, 2007.

G.K. Chesterton (1908): Orthodoxy