Suzanne C. Segerstrom is a Professor of Psychology and biostatistician at the

University of Kentucky The University of Kentucky (UK, UKY, or U of K) is a public land-grant research university in Lexington, Kentucky. Founded in 1865 by John Bryan Bowman as the Agricultural and Mechanical College of Kentucky, the university is one of the state's ...

. She is known for her clinical research on

optimism Optimism is an attitude reflecting a belief or hope that the outcome of some specific endeavor, or outcomes in general, will be positive, favorable, and desirable. A common idiom used to illustrate optimism versus pessimism is a glass filled w ...

and pessimism in relation to

health Health, according to the World Health Organization, is "a state of complete physical, mental and social well-being and not merely the absence of disease and infirmity".World Health Organization. (2006)''Constitution of the World Health Organiza ...

, stress, and general

well-being Well-being, or wellbeing, also known as wellness, prudential value or quality of life, refers to what is intrinsically valuable relative ''to'' someone. So the well-being of a person is what is ultimately good ''for'' this person, what is in t ...

. Segerstrom was the 2002 first prize recipient of the Templeton Positive Psychology Prize 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". She is

Editor-in-chief An editor-in-chief (EIC), also known as lead editor or chief editor, is a publication's editorial leader who has final responsibility for its operations and policies. The highest-ranking editor of a publication may also be titled editor, managing ...

of ''Psychosomatic Medicine''. She previously served as President of the American Psychosomatic Society. Segerstrom is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science.

Biography

Segerstrom was born in Boston, MA and grew up in

Oregon Oregon () is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. The Columbia River delineates much of Oregon's northern boundary with Washington, while the Snake River delineates much of its eastern boundary with Idah ...

. She attended Lewis and Clark College 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 The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California. UCLA's academic roots were established in 1881 as a Normal school, teachers colle ...

(1997), and a clinical internship in psychology at Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Center (

University of British Columbia The University of British Columbia (UBC) is a public university, public research university with campuses near Vancouver and in Kelowna, British Columbia. Established in 1908, it is British Columbia's oldest university. The university ranks a ...

). She subsequently earned a M.P.H. degree in biostatistics from the University of Kentucky (2017). As a graduate student at UCLA, Segerstrom worked under the supervision of

Shelley E. Taylor Shelley Elizabeth Taylor (born 1946) is a distinguished professor of psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. She received her Ph.D. from Yale University, and was formerly on the faculty at Harvard University. A prolific author of ...

Margaret Kemeny Margaret is a female first name, derived via French () and Latin () from grc, μαργαρίτης () meaning "pearl". The Greek is borrowed from Persian. Margaret has been an English name since the 11th century, and remained popular througho ...

, and Michelle Craske. Her dissertation titled "Optimism is associated with mood, coping, and immune change in response to stress" received the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the largest scientific and professional organization of psychologists in the United States, with over 133,000 members, including scientists, educators, clinicians, consultants, and students. It has ...

Martin E. P. Seligman Award for Outstanding Dissertation Research on the Science of Optimism and Hope. Segerstrom's research has been funded by the

National Institutes of Health The National Institutes of Health, commonly referred to as NIH (with each letter pronounced individually), is the primary agency of the United States government The federal government of the United States (U.S. federal government or U ...

's National Institute on Aging.

Research

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 The immune system is a network of biological processes that protects an organism from diseases. It detects and responds to a wide variety of pathogens, from viruses to parasitic worms, as well as Tumor immunology, cancer cells and objects such ...

). This includes studies of the effects of

disappointment Disappointment is the feeling of dissatisfaction that follows the failure of expectations or hopes to manifest. Similar to regret, it differs in that a person who feels regret focuses primarily on the personal choices that contributed to a ...

and emotional approach coping on health. Her collaborative research with Sandra Sephton has explored how law students' expectations for their future affect their immune response, and suggests that optimism yields health benefits, including protection against viral infections. Such findings align with other work indicating that people who have positive attitudes have better health outcomes. Segerstrom is the author of ''Breaking Murphy's Law: How Optimists Get What They Want and Pessimists Can Too'' and the editor of ''The Oxford Handbook of Psychoneuroimmunology.''

Selected works

*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

External links

Faculty PagePsychoneuroimmunology Lab Page
{{DEFAULTSORT:Segerstrom, Suzanne Year of birth missing (living people) Living people American psychologists University of California, Los Angeles alumni University of Kentucky faculty Kentucky women psychologists American women academics 21st-century American women