Suzanne Segerstrom

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Suzanne Segerstrom
OccupationProfessor of Psychology
AwardsTempleton Positive Psychology Prize (2002)
Academic background
Alma materLewis and Clark College; University of California, Los Angeles; University of Kentucky
Academic work
InstitutionsUniversity of Kentucky

Suzanne C. Segerstrom is a professor of Psychology and biostatistician at the University of Kentucky. She is known for her clinical research on optimism and pessimism in relation to health, stress, and general well-being.[1][2][3]

Segerstrom was the 2002 first prize recipient of the Templeton Positive Psychology Prize[4] for her work "aimed at understanding the processes behind optimistic dispositions and beliefs and, in particular, how these processes relate to the functioning of the immune system".[5] She is Editor-in-chief of Psychosomatic Medicine.[6] She previously served as president of the American Psychosomatic Society.[7] Segerstrom is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science.[8]

Biography[edit]

Segerstrom was born in Boston, MA and grew up in Oregon.[9] She attended Lewis and Clark College[10] where she received a bachelor's degree in psychology and music in 1990. Segerstrom went on to complete M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in clinical psychology at UCLA (1997), and a clinical internship in psychology at Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Center (University of British Columbia). She subsequently earned a M.P.H. degree in biostatistics from the University of Kentucky (2017).[11]

As a graduate student at UCLA, Segerstrom worked under the supervision of Shelley E. Taylor, Margaret Kemeny, and Michelle Craske.[4] Her dissertation titled "Optimism is associated with mood, coping, and immune change in response to stress"[12] received the American Psychological Association Martin E. P. Seligman Award for Outstanding Dissertation Research on the Science of Optimism and Hope.[9]

Segerstrom's research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health's National Institute on Aging.[13]

Research[edit]

Segerstrom's research examines individual differences in cognition, emotion, and personality factors (e.g., dispositional optimism) in relation to psychological well-being, health, and physiological functions (e.g., immune system).[4] This includes studies of the effects of disappointment[14] and emotional approach coping[15] on health. Her collaborative research with Sandra Sephton has explored how law students' expectations for their future affect their immune response,[16][17] and suggests that optimism yields health benefits, including protection against viral infections.[18] Such findings align with other work indicating that people who have positive attitudes have better health outcomes.[19]

Segerstrom is the author of Breaking Murphy's Law: How Optimists Get What They Want and Pessimists Can Too[20] and the editor of The Oxford Handbook of Psychoneuroimmunology.[21]

Selected works[edit]

  • Nes, L. S., & Segerstrom, S. C. (2006). Dispositional optimism and coping: A meta-analytic review. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 10(3), 235–251.
  • Segerstrom, S. C. (2007). Optimism and resources: Effects on each other and on health over 10 years. Journal of Research in Personality, 41(4), 772–786.
  • Segerstrom, S. C., & Miller, G. E. (2004). Psychological stress and the human immune system: A meta-analytic study of 30 years of inquiry. Psychological Bulletin, 130(4), 601–630.
  • Segerstrom, S. C., & Nes, L. S. (2007). Heart rate variability reflects self-regulatory strength, effort, and fatigue. Psychological Science, 18(3), 275–281.
  • Segerstrom, S. C., Taylor, S. E., Kemeny, M. E., & Fahey, J. L. (1998). Optimism is associated with mood, coping, and immune change in response to stress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74(6), 1646–1655.
  • Segerstrom, S. C., Tsao, J. C., Alden, L. E., & Craske, M. G. (2000). Worry and rumination: Repetitive thought as a concomitant and predictor of negative mood. Cognitive Therapy and Research, 24(6), 671–688.

References[edit]

  1. ^ Reddy, Sumathi (2014-08-05). "A Perfect Dose of Pessimism". Wall Street Journal. ISSN 0099-9660. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  2. ^ Becker, Dana (2013-03-29). "Five myths about stress". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  3. ^ Song, Sora (2004-07-12). "The Price Of Pressure". Time. ISSN 0040-781X. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  4. ^ a b c Crawford, Nicole. "Positivity pays off for winners of psychology's top monetary prize". American Psychological Association.
  5. ^ "Psychologists Receive Profession's Largest Monetary Prize for Research on the Effect Positive Traits Such as Optimism Have on Psychological and Physical Health". APA.
  6. ^ "American Psychosomatic Society Appoints Suzanne Segerstrom, PhD, MPH as the next Editor-in-Chief of Psychosomatic Medicine". American Psychosomatic Society. 2021-12-02. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  7. ^ "APS Newsletter". www.psychosomatic.org. 16 May 2017. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  8. ^ "Segerstrom Named APS Fellow for Outstanding Contribution to Psychology | University of Kentucky Research". www.research.uky.edu. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  9. ^ a b Solberg Nes, Lise (2017), "Segerstrom, Suzanne", in Zeigler-Hill, Virgil; Shackelford, Todd K. (eds.), Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences, Cham: Springer International Publishing, pp. 1–4, doi:10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_341-1, ISBN 978-3-319-28099-8, retrieved 2022-03-13
  10. ^ Schwartz, Todd. "Positive Thinking". www.lclark.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  11. ^ "Suzanne Segerstrom | Psychology". psychology.as.uky.edu. Retrieved 2018-10-10.
  12. ^ Segerstrom, Suzanne C.; Taylor, Shelley E.; Kemeny, Margaret E.; Fahey, John L. (1998). "Optimism is associated with mood, coping, and immune change in response to stress". Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 74 (6): 1646–1655. doi:10.1037/0022-3514.74.6.1646. ISSN 1939-1315. PMID 9654763.
  13. ^ "$3.3 Million Grant Goes to Segerstrom to Study Brain Health | Psychology". psychology.as.uky.edu. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  14. ^ Segerstrom, Suzanne C. (2006). "How does optimism suppress immunity? Evaluation of three affective pathways". Health Psychology. 25 (5): 653–657. doi:10.1037/0278-6133.25.5.653. ISSN 1930-7810. PMC 1613541. PMID 17014284.
  15. ^ Hoyt, Michael A.; Wang, Ashley Wei-Ting; Boggero, Ian A.; Eisenlohr-Moul, Tory A.; Stanton, Annette L.; Segerstrom, Suzanne C. (2020). "Emotional approach coping in older adults as predictor of physical and mental health". Psychology and Aging. 35 (4): 591–603. doi:10.1037/pag0000463. ISSN 1939-1498. PMC 8199838. PMID 32271069.
  16. ^ Segerstrom, Suzanne C.; Sephton, Sandra E. (2010-02-24). "Optimistic Expectancies and Cell-Mediated Immunity". Psychological Science. 21 (3): 448–455. doi:10.1177/0956797610362061. PMC 3933956. PMID 20424083.
  17. ^ Segerstrom, Suzanne C.; Sephton, Sandra E.; Westgate, Philip M. (2017-04-01). "Intraindividual variability in cortisol: Approaches, illustrations, and recommendations". Psychoneuroendocrinology. 78: 114–124. doi:10.1016/j.psyneuen.2017.01.026. ISSN 0306-4530. PMC 5362320. PMID 28192775.
  18. ^ Jacobs, Tom. "Optimism's Links to Immunity". Pacific Standard. Retrieved 2022-03-13.
  19. ^ Allen-West, Catherine. "Optimism Boosts the Immune System". Association for Psychological Science.
  20. ^ C., Segerstrom, Suzanne (2006). Breaking Murphy's law : how optimists get what they want from life-- and pessimists can too. New York: Guilford Press. ISBN 9781593855925. OCLC 62525100.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link)
  21. ^ The Oxford handbook of psychoneuroimmunology. Segerstrom, Suzanne C. New York: Oxford University Press. 2012. ISBN 9780195394399. OCLC 775894214.{{cite book}}: CS1 maint: others (link)

External links[edit]

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