Daniel Cordaro is an American research scientist and psychologist who specializes in
emotion
Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...
psychology
Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...
and human wellbeing. As a former faculty member at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
, Cordaro is best-known for his research in human emotion and
positive psychology
Positive psychology is the scientific study of conditions and processes that contribute to positive psychological states (e.g., contentment, joy), well-being, Positive psychology of relationships, positive relationships, and positive institutio ...
. Formerly the director of the Universal Expression Project at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, Cordaro has conducted various worldwide studies on human emotional expression.
Cordaro directed the Universal Expression Project at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
, as well as the Contentment Lab at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
. Currently, he is the director of the Contentment Foundation, a non-profit organization that he had formed with
Emilio Diez Barroso from the Contentment Lab at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
.
Education
Cordaro grew up in
Scranton, Pennsylvania
Scranton is a city in and the county seat of Lackawanna County, Pennsylvania, United States. With a population of 76,328 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, Scranton is the most populous city in Northeastern Pennsylvania and the ...
. He received his M.A. and Ph.D. in psychology from the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
. He also earned an M.S. in
organic chemistry
Organic chemistry is a subdiscipline within chemistry involving the science, scientific study of the structure, properties, and reactions of organic compounds and organic matter, organic materials, i.e., matter in its various forms that contain ...
from UC Berkeley. After graduating from UC Berkeley, Cordaro completed his
postdoctoral
A postdoctoral fellow, postdoctoral researcher, or simply postdoc, is a person professionally conducting research after the completion of their doctoral studies (typically a PhD). Postdocs most commonly, but not always, have a temporary acade ...
work at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
in 2014. Since 2009, Cordaro has studied human emotions and human well-being across several cultures.
Career
In 2009, Cordaro directed the Universal Expression Project at the
University of California, Berkeley
The University of California, Berkeley (UC Berkeley, Berkeley, Cal, or California), is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Berkeley, California, United States. Founded in 1868 and named after t ...
.
His team completed some of the largest international emotional expression studies and began to decode a universal language of human
emotion
Emotions are physical and mental states brought on by neurophysiology, neurophysiological changes, variously associated with thoughts, feelings, behavior, behavioral responses, and a degree of pleasure or suffering, displeasure. There is ...
. It extended the list of universal emotions and provided evidence for amusement, awe, contentment, desire, embarrassment, pain, relief, and sympathy in both facial and vocal expressions. The project has covered over 10 countries around the world, including
Bhutan
Bhutan, officially the Kingdom of Bhutan, is a landlocked country in South Asia, in the Eastern Himalayas between China to the north and northwest and India to the south and southeast. With a population of over 727,145 and a territory of , ...
.
In 2015, he became a faculty member at
Yale University
Yale University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in New Haven, Connecticut, United States. Founded in 1701, Yale is the List of Colonial Colleges, third-oldest institution of higher education in the United Stat ...
and the Director of Wellbeing at the Yale Center for
Emotional Intelligence
Emotional intelligence (EI), also known as emotional quotient (EQ), is the ability to perceive, use, understand, manage, and handle emotions. High emotional intelligence includes emotional recognition of emotions of the self and others, using ...
, where he led the Contentment Lab and published some of the first original research on
contentment
Contentment is a state of being in which one is satisfied with their current Everyday life, life situation, and the State of affairs (philosophy), state of affairs in one's life as they presently are. If one is content, they are at inner peace w ...
. Cordaro co-founded Good Group with Justin Milano in 2015. In 2016, along with
Emilio Diez Barroso, he co-founded the Contentment Foundation, a non-profit organization that provides wellbeing assessments,
curricula
In education, a curriculum (; : curriculums or curricula ) is the totality of student experiences that occur in an educational process. The term often refers specifically to a planned sequence of instruction, or to a view of the student's experi ...
, and practices for children and adults in schools internationally.
The Contentment Foundation is based on "The Four Pillars of Wellbeing," with the pillars being
mindfulness
Mindfulness is the cognitive skill, usually developed through exercises, of sustaining metacognitive awareness towards the contents of one's own mind and bodily sensations in the present moment. The term ''mindfulness'' derives from the Pali ...
, community, self-curiosity, and
contentment
Contentment is a state of being in which one is satisfied with their current Everyday life, life situation, and the State of affairs (philosophy), state of affairs in one's life as they presently are. If one is content, they are at inner peace w ...
. The Contentment Foundation's main service is to bring positive psychology and wellness practices to schools and organizations. In January 2020, the foundation expanded its offerings to include a new “Family Platform” that allows families to practice wellbeing at home. Cordaro's research reveals that across many cultures and traditions, contentment is the most prized emotion above all others, including happiness. Cordaro's philosophy for cultivating contentment includes practicing mindfulness, compassion and unconditionally accepting all emotions.
Publications
* Cordaro, D., Sun, R., Kamble, S., Hodder, N., Monroy, M., Cowen, A., Bai, Y., and Keltner, D. (2019). ''The Recognition of 18 Facial-Bodily Expressions Across Nine Cultures.'' Emotion. In Press.
*
* Keltner, D., Cordaro, D., MacNeil, G., Simon-Thomas, E., Piff, P., and Jones, M. (2018). ''Darwin’s Emoticons: The Artistic Portrayal of 51 Emotions.''
*Keltner, D., & Cordaro, D. T. (2017).
Understanding multimodal emotional expressions: Recent advances in basic emotion theory'' In J.-M. Fernández-Dols & J. A. Russell (Eds.), Oxford series in social cognition and social neuroscience. The science of facial expression (pp. 57–75). New York, NY, US: Oxford University Press.
*Keltner, D., Tracy, J., Sauter, D., Cordaro, D., McNeil, G.
Expression of Emotion'(2016). In Barrett, L.F., Lewis, M., Haviland-Jones, J.M. (Eds.). Handbook of Emotions. pp. 467–482. Guilford Press.
*
*
*Cordaro, D. T., Brackett, M., Glass, L., & Anderson, C. L. (2016).
Contentment: Perceived completeness across cultures and traditions'. Review of General Psychology, 20(3), 221.
*Keltner, D. & Cordaro, D. (2015).
Understanding Multimodal Emotional Expressions: Recent Advances in Basic Emotion Theory'. Emotion Researcher.
*Baker, L.H., Cordaro, D., Platt, F.W. (2012). ''The First Minute. Medical Encounter''. 26(4), 83-84.
*Ekman, P. & Cordaro, D. (2011)
''What is meant by calling emotions basic''.Emotion Review. 3(4), 364-370.
Articles and chapters
Cordaro is also the author of several articles, such as the following.
*
*
His research is also discussed in Chapter 4 ("Communication of Emotions") of the following book.
*
See also
*
Dacher Keltner
Dacher Joseph Keltner is a Mexican-born American professor of psychology at the University of California, Berkeley, who directs the Berkeley Social Interaction Lab.
Biography
Keltner was born in Jalisco, Mexico, to two early members of the co ...
*
Paul Ekman
Paul Ekman (born February 15, 1934) is an American psychologist and professor emeritus at the University of California, San Francisco who is a pioneer in the study of emotions and their relation to facial expressions. He was ranked 59th out of t ...
*
Marc Brackett
Marc A. Brackett is a research psychologist and the founding director of the Yale Center for Emotional Intelligence as well as a professor in the Child Study Center at Yale University.
Biography
Brackett earned his Ph.D. in psychology from the ...
References
External links
Contentment FoundationDaniel Cordaro personal websitePurpose and the Pursuit of Happiness
{{DEFAULTSORT:Cordaro, Daniel
Living people
Year of birth missing (living people)
Emotional intelligence researchers
Positive psychologists
University of California, Berkeley alumni
American nonprofit chief executives
21st-century American psychologists