Title: Professor Emeritus
Areas: Social Psychology
Phone: 848-445-4639 / 5-3991 / 5-2019
Email:
Campus: Livingston
Building: Tillett Hall 405 / 203 / 413, 415, 417
Professor Haviland-Jones’ early research included studies of emotional displays in infancy, the development of gender differences in emotion, and the organizing effects of emotion on personality.
In the nineties, we established the Human Emotions Lab. Here we approach emotion as a dynamic system. It influences complex thought processes and many kinds of behavior, culminating in health and well-being, both physical and mental. We have included semiochemicals as a method of non-verbal emotional communication. The semiochemicals - fragrances, odorants, pheromones, and body odors - influence mood, attitude, memory, reaction times, social behavior, and general well-being.
Presently, we focus on environmental influences on emotion. In a very popular set of studies we showed that flowers and even flower scents promote happiness in people. We suggested a co-evolutionary theory for this in which flowers became the “pets” of the plant world.
Professor Haviland-Jones is the author of several books including one on adolescence. The Hidden Genius of Emotion, written with Carol Magai, Ph. D., provides theoretical background to the emotion studies. The co-edited Handbook of Emotion series provides a comprehensive overview of emotion in the 21st Century.
