Positive bias and mental health

My main line of research concerns positive bias, i.e., the phenomenon that many people see the world more brightly and more positive than it really is, and whether and at what ages individual differences in positive bias are associated with differences in mental and social functioning. In this project I combine longitudinal data collected every 2-3 years with more fine-grained momentary assessments, laboratory tasks, and biomarkers.

One of the key findings of this project is that absence of positive bias during early and mid-adolescence predict onset of depression later in life. My aim for future research is to investigate when and how individual differences in positive bias arise, and what role genetic vulnerabilities and parenting play.