Saida Heshmati

• Ph.D.
• Professor (Assistant) at Claremont Graduate University

Cultural consensus theory is a statistical framework (CCT) for the study of individual differences in the knowledge of culturally shared opinions. In this article, we demonstrate how a CCT analysis can be used to study individual differences and cultural consensus on what makes people feel loved, or more generally any social behaviors that are gove...

Everyday life presents many experiences that can make people feel connected to another and leave them feeling loved. We conducted two ecological momentary assessment studies (N = 52 and N = 160) to examine people's subjective perceptions of the impact of these experiences by capturing the extent to which they felt loved at several randomly sampled...

The transitional years of early adulthood engenders both opportunities and risks for well-being. In this paper, we propose that the conceptualization and measurement of early adult’s well-being during early adulthood can be improved through the use of short, daily momentary assessments of well-being, and through an examination of the structure of w...

Everyday life experiences of love can occur in various romantic and non-romantic settings, depending on cultural context. Following the premise of emotional fit in a cultural setting and its benefits for cultural cohesion and well-being, we explored alignments in cultural beliefs on love and its association with well-being. Specifically, we studied...

In family contexts, individuals are embedded in networks of relationships. Social Network Analysis (SNA) provides a unique framework to investigate family relationships as interrelated networks above and beyond dyadic familial relationships. In the current paper, we used the notion of triadic closure to investigate how various configurations of fam...

Social connection is a key ingredient for healthy aging; however, the specific experiencesof daily living that make most older adults feel loved have not been studiedsystematically. To fill this gap, we surveyed a representative sample (N=408) of USadults over 65 years of age. They were asked to judge 61 everyday life experiencesfor their potential...

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted emerging adult first-year college students’ daily lives and well-being. Adaptive emotion regulation (ER) is crucial for this developmental transition phase during challenging times. We assessed 1,796 ecological momentary assessments from 76 first-year students (aged 18–20, 71% female, 46% white) during the Spring 202...

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted emerging adult first-year college students’ daily lives and well-being. Adaptive emotion regulation (ER) is crucial for this developmental transition phase during challenging times. We assessed 1,796 ecological momentary assessments from 76 first-year students (aged 18–20, 71% female, 46% white) during the Spring 202...

This study aimed to explore the well-being of Iranian immigrants in the U.S., investigating the potential buffering role of social support in coping with discrimination in both workplace and everyday situations. The research sought to understand the unique challenges faced by this demographic, especially in the context of recent political events an...

Love is shaped by cultural context. The Cultural Consensus Theory (CCT) framework can be used to explore shared beliefs within cultures. Immigrants are a growing subculture within the United States that may have diverse views on love. This study investigated the shared beliefs of everyday love among 230 U.S. adults who had immigrated from 78 countr...

How affective experiences, such as feelings, emotions, and moods, fluctuate over time is relevant for understanding and predicting psychological well-being. Here, we present a novel approach to investigate affect dynamics grounded on the concept of multistability, a common behavior of complex systems, characterized by abrupt shifts between two or m...

This study explored (a) whether language mindset could predict the frequency of Language Learning Strategy (LLS) usage by second language (L2) learners, (b) whether language mindset was a predictor of specific types of strategy use such as direct or indirect language learning strategies, and (c) whether L2 learners’ level of passion in language lea...

Feeling and expressing love in daily life are interconnected and perhaps mutually influential experiences. In this study we examined the reciprocal dynamics of feeling and expressing love and its relation to well-being using an ecological momentary assessment design. Over a four-week period, we asked participants ( N = 52; 67% Female; 80% White) to...

Well-being has been the focus of investigation in psychological sciences in recent years, yet cross-sectional and group-level methods fall short of capturing the dynamics of person-level well-being experiences in daily life. In the present study we used ecological momentary assessments of well-being from two samples of first-year college students (...

Psychological flexibility plays a crucial role in how young adults adapt to their evolving cognitive and emotional landscapes. Our study investigated a core aspect of psychological flexibility in young adults: adaptive variability and maladaptive rigidity in the capacity for behavior change. We examined the interplay of these elements with cognitiv...

We introduce a theoretical framework for conceptualizing Psychological Well‐Being (PWB) as a process that unfolds over short and longer time‐scales. We argue that this framework can be especially useful for studying the change mechanisms in PWB within the context of mobile Health (mHealth) interventions. Four lines of research are considered within...

In this paper, we critically evaluate contemporary models of psychopathology and therapies, underscoring the limitations of traditional symptom-based classification approaches in mental health. We introduce a paradigm shift in the field, towards a process-oriented and dynamic systems approach to psychotherapy that offers deeper insights into the co...

Psychological flexibility plays a crucial role in how young adults adapt to their evolving cognitive and emotional landscapes. Our study investigated psychological flexibility in young adults, concentrating on adaptive variability and maladaptive rigidity. We examined the interplay of these elements with cognitive-affective processes within a dynam...

PERMA is a multidimensional framework that explains well-being through five hedonic and eudaimonic psychological elements–Positive emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment. Soon after the PERMA framework was proposed, PERMA-Profiler was introduced as a validated assessment tool for measuring these five elements of well-being fro...

Despite the growing deployment of network representation to comprehend psychological phenomena, the question of whether and how networks can effectively describe the effects of psychological interventions remains elusive. Network control theory, the engineering study of networked interventions, has recently emerged as a viable methodology to charac...

The focus on the negative side of technology has become a prominent factor in the understanding of the interactions between humans and technology. However, there is a positive side to technology use that has been less investigated in scientific research. Well-being researchers have determined that it is not just the absence of negative emotions or...

Understanding how affective experiences, such as feelings, emotions, and moods, fluctuate over time is crucial for assessing psychological well-being (Houben et al., 2015). Here, we present a novel approach to investigate affect dynamics grounded on the concept of multistability, a common behaviour of complex systems, characterized by abrupt shifts...

A comprehensive overview of the field and its future trajectories is needed to gain insight into how psychological research on well-being has progressed over time and what needs to be addressed. Previous reviews on well-being tend to have limited scope or contain subjective inferences about the state of research on well-being, resulting in fragment...

While positive psychology has been in development for more than 20 years, positive psychologists still face the challenge of finding optimal measurements of well-being. The PERMA framework provides a new understanding of well-being based on years of research. However, whether it adds value in terms of being distinct from the already established mea...

It is widely acknowledged that social relationships unfold across multiple time-scales. For example, social interactions that take place over moments, hours, or days also shape relationship change and outcomes over months, years, and even decades. These processes likely unfold in the reverse direction as well: experiences over longer-term timeframe...

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted emerging adult first-year college students’ daily lives and well-being. Dialectical Behavior Therapy (DBT) recognizes that effective and adaptive emotion regulation skills can be important for this vulnerable population’s well-being, who are going through a transitioning phase of development in challenging times. An...

The COVID-19 pandemic disrupted emerging adult first-year college students’ daily lives and well-being. Adaptive emotion regulation (ER) is crucial for this developmental transition phase during challenging times. We assessed 1,796 ecological momentary assessments from 76 first-year students (aged 18–20, 71% female, 46% white) during the Spring 202...

Early adults face an important developmental transition that can be accompanied by increased risk for mental health issues and vulnerability to stress and adversity. Increased levels of psychological well-being (PWB) have been found to buffer this risk. Research shows that skills for improving PWB may be learned through PWB interventions; however,...

The experience of love plays an integral role in human development as adolescents transition into adulthood. However, little is known about whether early adults have a shared understanding about indicators of love in daily life in this transitional phase. Using Cultural Consensus Theory informed by developmental theory, this study examined whether...

Purpose of Review Effective treatment of anxiety-related disorders is crucial, considering the prevalence of such disorders and their association with poor psychosocial functioning. To evaluate the most recent evidence on the efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) for anxiety-related disorders in adults, we conducted a meta-analysis of rand...

In intensive longitudinal designs individuals are measured with high frequency over time. Sometimes there are multiple bursts of measurement, yielding multi-phase longitudinal data, which allow for evaluation of behavioral change at multiple timescales. From a systems theory perspective, a process that exhibits change occurring simultaneously at mu...

Despite the growing deployment of network representation throughout psychological sciences, the question of whether and how networks can systematically describe the effects of psychological interventions remains elusive. Towards this end, we capitalize on recent breakthrough in network control theory, the engineering study of networked intervention...

The datasets include relevant psychological and demographic variables relating to people’s relationships, perceptions, and reactions to the Covid-19 pandemic. Participants were recruited from the United States (N = 396), China (N = 156), and Iran (N = 248). Participants were directed to an online survey that assessed their psychological well-being,...

The datasets include relevant psychological and demographic variables relating to people's relationships, perceptions, and reactions to the Covid-19 pandemic. Participants were recruited from the United States (N = 396), China (N = 156), and Iran (N = 248). Participants were directed to an online survey that assessed their psychological well-being,...

Introduction Emotional eating is a mental health concern, common in adolescents, that develops as a result of their tendency to use high‐energy food to regulate their fluctuating emotions. Due to their highly fluctuating emotional life, adolescents tend to have unique within‐person profiles of emotional experiences that change across moments and da...

The present study draws attention to the significance of considering mindfulness and spiritual well-being on cancer-related distress through the bidirectional framework among couples with cancer. We analyzed dyadic data collected from 80 couples (N = 160) with cancer using the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) to examine the within-person...

Humans are innately social, and this disposition motivates us to build relationships. In particular, close relationships such as romantic love relationships and friendships have a unique bidirectional influence on development. These close relationships influence individuals’ overall well-being in addition to giving purpose and meaning to people’s l...

The science of well-being lives at the heart of positive psychology. While the field has been around for 20 years, positive psychologists still face the challenge of finding optimal measurements of well-being. The PERMA framework (Seligman, 2011; 2018) can provide for a measurement model, but its added value in terms of being distinct from the alre...

Cultural conformity in psychological constructs has been shown to play a critical role in people’s health and well-being. The more people’s individual beliefs about a construct aligns with the cultural norms, their cultural identity is more cultivated, leading to higher levels of well-being. Considering feeling loved in everyday contexts as a socia...

This study introduces the concept of felt love as the monadic experience of love, a parallel of dyadic love, and presents a study examining the relationships between daily felt love and sleep quality across 28 days. Before beginning the daily protocol, participants answered 60 questions assessing common situations that may make people feel loved. T...

The present study draws attention to the significance of considering mindfulness and spiritual well-being on cancer-related distress among couples with cancer during the pandemic. Dyadic data was analyzed among couples with cancer (80 couples; N=160) to examine the within-person (actor effects) and between-partner (partner effects) associations amo...

Most assessments of well-being have relied on retrospective accounts, measured by global evaluative well-being scales. Following the recent debates focused on the assessment of hedonic and eudaimonic well-being based on the elements of the PERMA theory, the current study aimed to shed further light onto the measurement of PERMA elements in daily li...

In family contexts, individuals are embedded in networks of relationships. Social network analysis provides a unique framework to investigate family relationships as interrelated networks above and beyond dyadic familial relationships. In the current paper, we used the notion of triadic closure to investigate how various configurations of family ne...

The experience of love plays an integral role in human development as adolescents transition to young adults. While important, little is known about beliefs on love and intimacy in this transitional stage and whether emerging adults have developed beliefs about indicators of love. Using Cultural Consensus Theory informed by developmental theory, th...

Disruptions caused by the pandemic have disproportionately impacted people in different age groups as well as people residing in different parts of the world. The present research identifies how psychological factors within various bioecological systems (i.e., self, micro, macro) makeup pathways to wellbeing across developmental and diverse cultura...

Recent debates in the Journal of Positive Psychology about the nature and usefulness of PERMA have created confusion about its contribution toward the understanding and prediction of well-being. This empirical study was designed to clarify several issues that have emerged in these recent articles. Using a multi-trait multi-method (MTMM) research de...

The transitional years of early adulthood, with key tasks of identity and intimacy development, engender both opportunities and risks for well-being. We propose that the conceptualization and measurement of early adults’ well-being can be improved through (a) an integration of ideas from developmental and psychological science on well-being, (b) th...

This study explored the design and implementation of the Cover-up and Un-cover games, two manipulative-based fraction games, in fourteen fifth grade classrooms. We examined how the fraction concepts were integrated into the game design and explored the nature of teacher-student interactions during games using lesson videos. Our examination showed t...

The importance of studying specific and expressed emotions after a stressful life event is well known, yet few studies have moved beyond assessing self-reported emotional responses to a romantic breakup. This study examined associations between computer-recognized facial expressions and self-reported breakup-related distress among recently separate...

We present a study (N = 495) in which we simultaneously model people’s consensus on what makes them feel loved and their ability of knowing this consensus. We account for cognitive aspects of decision-making (e.g., acquiescence bias) and predict individual differences in ability and cognitive response styles from personality traits.

Abstract In this article we report further explorations of the classroom video analysis instrument (CVA), a measure of usable teacher knowledge based on scoring teachers’ written analyses of classroom video clips. Like other researchers, our work thus far has attempted to identify and measure separable components of teacher knowledge. In this study...

Retributivist accounts of punishment maintain that it is right to punish wrongdoers, even if the punishment has no future benefits. Research in experimental economics indicates that people are willing to pay to punish defectors. A complementary line of work in social psychology suggests that people think that it is right to punish wrongdoers. This...

Using pupil dilation as an index of cognitive load and effortful engagement, we assess differences in reward versus non-reward contexts in individuals with and without bipolar I disorder. Results indicate that reward incentives did not affect cognitive control performance for participants with bipolar disorder. people with bipolar disorder demonstr...

In this study we compared the quality of teacher-student interactions during math games and non-game lessons to explore whether games, as implemented in the classroom, are likely to further student thinking and understanding of the mathematics. Based on our preliminary findings it appears that interactions during games are of lower quality than in...