Who are we?

Our research team is dedicated to studying psychological factors that influence well-being and health. It includes the faculty in the UC Berkeley psychology department, graduate students, undergraduate students, and research staff members.

Iris Mauss

Principal Investigator

Iris Mauss received her PhD in psychology at Stanford University. She is a professor in the department of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, specializing in social and personality psychology. Dr. Mauss’s research focuses on how people experience and manage their emotions, and how these factors influence people’s health and well-being.

Contact: imauss@berkeley.edu

Oliver John

Principal Investigator

Oliver P. John received his PhD at the University of Oregon and has been Professor and Research Psychologist at the University of California, Berkeley, since 1999. In more than 100 research articles and three books, Dr. John has examined personality structure and processes, emotion expression and regulation, self and self-perception processes and methodological issues; his Big Five Inventory and Emotion Regulation Questionnaire have been translated into more than 20 languages.

Brett Ford

Graduate Student

Brett is currently is a doctoral candidate in the social-personality area at the University of California, Berkeley. Originally from Oregon, she completed her undergraduate degree in psychology and masters degree in social-personality psychology at Boston College. Her research focuses on the emotions people want to feel (emotion regulation goals) and the ways in which people attempt to change their emotions (emotion regulation strategies).

Contact: brett.q.ford@berkeley.edu

Fausto Gonzalez

Graduate Student

Fausto is a doctoral student at the University of California, Berkeley, where he investigates emotion regulation and interpersonal interactions. Fausto attained his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Davis, before coming to Berkeley where he is currently studying the social dynamics of emotion regulation and how people influence the emotions of others.

Contact: fjgonzal@berkeley.edu

Helena Rose Karnilowizc

Graduate Student

Helena Rose Karnilowicz is a Ph.D. student in the social and personality psychology area at the University of California, Berkeley. She is broadly interested in studying how emotion regulation can buffer the effects of stress on wellbeing, with a particular focus on the potential of reappraisal to moderate the risk for disease conferred by early adversity.

Contact: hrkarnilowicz@berkeley.edu

Emily Willroth

Graduate Student

Emily Willroth is a Ph.D. student in social and personality psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. She earned her M.A. in experimental psychology at the College of William and Mary and her B.A. in psychology at the University of Missouri. Her research interests focus on the relationship between emotion, emotion regulation, and well-being.

Contact: ecwillroth@berkeley.edu

Catherine Patzelt

Graduate Student

Cathy is a visiting student researcher from the University of Hamburg, Germany where she is currently enrolled in the M.Sc. program in psychology with a focus on social as well as clinical psychology. She is interested in the influence of emotion regulation on eating behavior.

Contact: catherine.patzelt@berkeley.edu

Phoebe Lam

Project Coordinator

Phoebe earned a B.A. in psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. Her research interest focuses on the effects of pursuing emotion goals and how wanting or striving for certain positive or negative hedonic experiences could lead to surprising results.

Contact: phoebelam@berkeley.edu

Cindy Villanueva

Project Coordinator

Cindy earned a B.A. in psychology with a minor in linguistics from the University of California, Berkeley. She is interested in the development and treatment of mental illness; and in particular, how potential contributing factors, like sleep and emotion regulation, may be targets for intervention.

Contact: cindy_v@berkeley.edu

Fiona Cheung

Research Assistant

Fiona is a 3rd year undergraduate at UC Berkeley studying psychology and education. She is interested in the relationship between emotion regulation strategies and psychopathology.

Michaela Moss

Research Assistant

Michaela is a second year undergraduate student at UC Berkeley. She is an intended Psychology and Public Health double major. She is interested in issues related to improving community wellness.

Jocelyn Velazquez

Research Assistant

Jocelyn Velazquez is a second year student intended Psychology major with a minor in Education. She has worked closely with children at a preschool for two years and hope to study how their early social and emotional interactions affect their academic achievement.

Nguyen Nguyen

Research Assistant

Nguyen is an undergraduate student in Psychology at UC Berkeley. Her research interest focuses on the interaction between personality and emotion in relationships.

Abigail Huliganga

Research Assistant

Abigail is a 3rd year undergraduate student at UC Berkeley with an intended double major in Molecular Cell Biology and Psychology. She is interested in the psycho physiology of anxiety, emotion regulation, and how social and emotional factors affect psychological wellness and overall health.

Tiffany Wong

Research Assistant

Tiffany is an undergraduate student studying psychology and biology at UC Berkeley. She is interested in emotion regulation strategies, biological and sociocultural factors influencing the development of psychopathology, and the stigma of mental illness.