Social Psychology Network

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Barbara L. Fredrickson

Barbara L. Fredrickson

Barbara L. Fredrickson, Ph.D. earned her undergraduate degree from Carleton College and her doctorate from Stanford University. She is currently Kenan Distinguished Professor at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, with appointments in Psychology and the Kenan-Flagler School of Business. She is also Director of the Positive Emotions and Psychophysiology Laboratory (a.k.a., PEP Lab).

Fredrickson is a leading scholar within social psychology, affective science, and positive psychology, and has received more than 16 consecutive years of research funding from the National Institutes of Health. Her research and teaching have been recognized with numerous honors, including, in 2000, the American Psychological Association's inaugural Templeton Prize in Positive Psychology, in 2008, the Society for Experimental Social Psychology's Career Trajectory Award, and in 2013, the inaugural Christopher Peterson Gold Medal, the highest honor bestowed by the International Positive Psychology Association.

Her work is cited widely, and she is regularly invited to give keynotes nationally and internationally. Fredrickson's 2009 book, Positivity, describes the relevance of her 20-year research program on positive emotions for a general readership. Her 2013 book, Love 2.0, offers a fresh and practical perspective on this most vital human emotion. She lives in Carrboro, North Carolina, with her husband and two sons.

Primary Interests:

  • Emotion, Mood, Affect
  • Evolution and Genetics
  • Health Psychology
  • Interpersonal Processes
  • Life Satisfaction, Well-Being

Research Group or Laboratory:

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Video Gallery

Featured SVG

Remaking Love (TEDx talk)

Select video to watch

  • 11:39

    Remaking Love (TEDx talk)


  • 8:38

    Positive Emotions Open Our Mind


  • 7:37

    Positive Emotions Transform Us


  • 6:34

    On Positive Emotions and Positivity


  • 2:28

    An Overview of Love 2.0


  • 27:36

    Love: A New Lens on the Science of Thriving


  • 02:06

    How to Be More Positive


  • 5:0

    Positive Emotions Matter


  • 79:47

    Positivity Resonates


  • 3:22

    Can People Change?


  • 2:40

    Be Positive, Not Productive


  • 43:0

    The Science of Love, Connection, & "Positivity Resonance"


  • 5:0

    What If Everything You Know About Love is Wrong?


  • 4:24

    Science of Happiness


  • 1:22

    Broaden and Build Theory



Books:

Journal Articles:

Other Publications:

Courses Taught:

  • Advanced Social Psychology
  • Personality and Social Psychology
  • Positive Organizing and Human Flourishing
  • Positive Psychology
  • Psychology of Emotions
  • Psychology of Women
  • Research in Positive Psychology
  • Research Methods in Social Psychology
  • Selected Topics in Emotion Research
  • Situational Construction of Race, Gender & Culture
  • Social Psychology
  • Social Psychology of Women’s Bodies

Barbara L. Fredrickson
Department of Psychology
309 Davie Hall, CB 3270
University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
Chapel Hill, North Carolina 27599
United States of America

  • Phone: (919) 843-0091
  • Fax: (919) 962-2537

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