Rate My Professor Masami Takahashi

Masami Takahashi is a Professor in the Department of Psychology within the College of Arts and Sciences at Northeastern Illinois University. He earned a Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Temple University in spring 1999, an M.S. in Psychology from the University of Houston-Clear Lake in summer 1990, and a B.A. in Psychology from the University of Houston-Clear Lake in spring 1988. Takahashi teaches a range of graduate and undergraduate courses, including Master’s Thesis Seminar, Aging and Diversity, Research Designs and Methods, Values, Decision Making, and the Elderly, Meanings of Old Age, Developmental Processes and Aging, Seminar on Wisdom, History of Psychology, Survey of Psychology, Developmental Psychology, Popular Films and Adult Development, and Psychosocial Development and Aging.

His research interests focus on three areas: the definition, operationalization, and evaluation of psychological strengths in late adulthood such as wisdom, spirituality, and religiosity; potential factors of longevity in the Blue Zones; and the psychosocial profile of former kamikaze pilots with implications for other suicide missions around the world. Key publications include his edited volume The Empirical Study of the Psychology of Religion and Spirituality in Japan (Elm Grove, 2020); the chapter "Relationship between wisdom and spirituality: An expanded theoretical model with mysticism and gerotranscendence" in The Cambridge Handbook of Wisdom (Cambridge University Press, 2019); "Relational Wisdom and Happiness in Late Adulthood" in Advancing Developmental Science (Routledge, 2017); "End-of-Life Activities Among Community-Dwelling Older Adults in Japan" (2021); and "A Culturally Sensitive Approach to the Relationships between Identity Formation and Religious Beliefs in Youth" (2019). Takahashi also produced and directed the documentary Last Kamikaze: Testimonials from the WWII Suicide Pilots (2007). Forthcoming is "Psychology of religion in Japan," co-authored with H. Kato, for the Cambridge Handbook of Psychology and Religion. His expertise lies in developmental psychology and gerontology.