Curiosity is human nature, and it can be a powerful driving force. For 1994 Tech High School alumna, Sara Algoe, curiosity is not only her motivation but a craving to learn more about human nature itself. Algoe yearns to discover how emotions tie to the physical and mental well-being of human beings. She began to feed that curiosity through her research around one word – gratitude.
In high school, she paid attention to social interactions. Algoe was fascinated with how one person could walk into the room and the mood would shift and how the trajectory of the interaction would change whether the reaction was positive or negative.
“I was always a people watcher,” laughs Algoe, looking back on her high school days.
“Emotions dictate our lives,” she explains. “Many people will recognize that, but others won’t. Really, emotions guide our behavior, our thinking and what we do next.”
At the University of Virginia, Algoe obtained her Ph.D. in social psychology with an expertise in emotions-particularly gratitude and how it works between people, something she had studied as a graduate student.
“What I was really curious … about [was] the possibility that emotions coordinate our actions with other people,” says Algoe. “Our gratitude is a signal that … the emotional response prompts us to action ourselves. My work actually shows us how gratitude … binds us closer to other people. But, with me ‘nerding out’ on the science side of it … I ended up doing a post-doctoral fellowship at UCLA (University of California, Los Angeles).”
At UCLA, she honed the skills she needed to study people and ongoing relationships. The fellowship was funded by the National Institute of Mental Health. From that study, she formed the realization that relationships are important for good health.
“A little-known fun fact,” says Algoe, “It blew my mind when I heard it. We all know how smoking can shorten a life. … What is less well known is having people in your social network and having better relationships with those people is as impactful to living longer as smoking is to living shorter. … We have very robust evidence that being in good relationships helps people live longer.”
What brought her to North Carolina was another post-doctorate at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. After a couple of years of doing research, a tenure-track position opened. She is now currently an associate professor of psychology and neuroscience.
As such, Algoe directs lab research now at Chapel Hill. Her lab, Emotions and Social Interaction Relations Lab, (EASIR, pronounced “easier”) looks at what makes relationships great. Gratitude, shared laughter and mindfulness are key research areas among relationships whether those relationships are romantic couples, roommates or co-workers.
Algoe believes the reason her work draws attention from media, like the Wall Street Journal, is that it really resonates with people. Everyone has relationships and recognizes how relationships influence day-to-day functioning. There is a significant amount of research on how not to lose your relationship instead of focusing on feel-good moments like shared laughter.
However, her lab goes a step further taking a look at the physiological side of the research such as measuring gratitude levels through surveys. The higher the gratitude level is on the survey predicts the positive feelings that one partner would have towards his or her partner the following day.
“It’s been surprising how much the positive [level of gratitude] really makes the difference,” says Algoe. “It’s one of the reasons I can’t let gratitude [research] go.”
She’s excited to review new data as it’s developed and she is driven by new questions. Her curiosity about emotions and their impact on physiology and health will continue to drive her to learn all she can about gratitude.
I AM a researcher. I AM curious. I AM 742.
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