Optimists have the general tendency to always look at the bright side of life. This attitude toward life seems quite beneficial, as optimists lead happier and physically and mentally healthier lives than pessimists.
There is evidence that reward responsiveness and optimism are associated with mental and social functioning in adolescence and adulthood, but it is unknown if this is also the case for young children. Part of the reason for this gap in the literature …
At Noorderzon 2019 I co-organized the Noorderlichten activity ‘Like parent, like child?’. Noorderlichten is an event to bring scientific research outside academia and give children and other non-scientists the opportunity to experience what it is …
My postdoc was part of Dr. Tina Kretschmer’s ERC funded project Ghosts from the Past: Consequences of Adolescent Peer Experiences across Contexts and Generations (CAPE).
In this project we investigated whether and how peer experiences are transmitted a) to adult friendships and romantic relationships, and b) across generations, i.
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.