Rate My Professor Saida Heshmati

Heshmati's scholarship centers on positive developmental psychology, examining human flourishing across the lifespan through positive relationships, love, and dynamic emotional processes. She employs intensive longitudinal designs, Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA), dynamic network analysis, Bayesian time-series models, and Cultural Consensus Theory to advance understanding of well-being in everyday life and diverse cultures. Key publications include “Psychological well-being and personality traits are associated with experiencing love in everyday life” (Personality and Individual Differences, 2020), “What does it mean to feel loved: Cultural consensus and individual differences” (Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 2017), “Conceptualizing psychological well-being as a dynamic process: Implications for research on mobile health interventions” (Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 2024), “Novel Approaches Toward Studying Change: Implications for Understanding and Treating Psychopathology” (Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 2024), and “Momentary PERMA: An adapted measurement tool for studying well-being in daily life” (Journal of Happiness Studies, 2023). As Principal Investigator of a Templeton Foundation grant exceeding $1.7 million for a cross-cultural study of love across six countries, her work has significant impact. Heshmati has been honored with the International Positive Psychology Association Early Career Researcher Award, the European Loewe Foundation Scholarship ($25,000), and top author recognitions from the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships.