Suzanne Segerstrom


Suzanne Segerstrom is Professor of Psychology at the University of Kentucky and known for her clinical research on optimism and other personality traits in relation to health. In 2002, Segerstrom was the 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 has served as President of the American Psychosomatic Society and is a Fellow of the Association for Psychological Science.
Segerstrom attended Lewis and Clark College where she received a bachelor's degree in psychology and music. After completing M.A. and Ph.D. degrees in clinical psychology at UCLA, and a clinical internship in psychology at Vancouver Hospital and Health Sciences Center, Segerstrom went on to earn a M.P.H. degree in biostatistics from the University of Kentucky.
Segerstrom became involved in the study of optimism when she was a graduate student studying under the supervision of Shelley E. Taylor at UCLA. Segerstrom was awarded the Martin E. P. Seligman Award for Outstanding Dissertation Research on the Science of Optimism and Hope from the American Psychological Association. More recent longitudinal research, funded through grants from the National Institute on Aging, has focused on well being, self-regulation, and health in older adults.

Research

Segerstrom's research examines the impact of differences in cognition, emotion, and personality factors on psychological well-being, health, and physiological functions. She is known for her research on disappointment and emotional approach coping. She is also known for her work drawing a connection between optimism and psychosocial factors in HIV patients. One aspect of Suzanne's research focuses on optimism in relation to the functioning of the immune system. She conducted a research study with Sandra Sephton to figure out how law students' expectations for their future affected their immune response. The results of the research study suggested that optimism yields health benefits. Other studies besides Segerstrom's similarly suggest 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