We appreciate the company of our kittens, the loyalty of our cars, and the speed and accuracy of our laptops. We thank them as if they understand. But do they, really? How? And why're we doing this? Here, we investigate the psychology of gratitude for non-human beings.

Led by Yenping

Having shared memories binds people closer together. But what if the persons we miss aren't those in front of us? Does nostalgia help in romantic relationships as they are in regular ones? If not - it feels not - how are we going to face the kind of scars we likely all have?

Led by Kadi

They say there's nothing like a cup of Joe, when the morning's grey and grim and slow. But what goes into that cup of Joe, that makes it really mellow and glow? Plant botanists have invested in that black gold in the cup for long; we the behvavioral scientists believe the myth lives beyond the cup. We drink a lot of coffee. That's what this project is meant to be.

Led by Grace, in collaboration with mojocoffee & Taiwan Coffee Laboratory

It's no secret nostalgia sells. Researchers know it well; companies know it better, on what we'll buy, why we'll buy them, and even how we'll go through the process step-by-step. But, what comes "after" we've spent the money? How nostalgic buying would change our lives? Can we make it/us healthier in the end? 

Led by Yenping, in collaboration with Constantine Sedikides & Tim Wildschut

Being kind to others is one thing, being so to oneself is another. We all love working at a place where people treat each other nicely. But do we want our colleagues and maybe ourselves, too, to forgive themselves easily? What's good about that for the company? Is it by any chance productive? 

In collaboration led by April Chang

It's known that we sync with those who we interact with behaviorally, conversationally, mentally, and deep down, physiologically. This last synchrony, however, is hard to statistically model. In this project, we combined existing statistical knowledge with machine learning to tackle the problem.

Led by Ray, in collaboration with Yi-Chen Lee & Jeremy Lee

We all have the experiences of buying stuff we didn't plan to buy and indeed regret buying when ruminating about it now. In this project, we looked at the emotional processes of impulsive shopping and, specifically, the roles and influences of culture in the processes.

Led by Naomi

Grateful people are nice people, so they usually trust others around them, don't they? In this project, we extended the literature on gratitude and interpersonal trust, focusing on finding the situations in which gratitude would work better sometimes but, other times, worse for building trust.

Led by Wilson