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Fostering Care and Connection

Research in our lab is focused on the study of relationships and well-being. We examine how the different ways in which people care and connect with each other impacts personal and relationship well-being.

Caring

We study the careful balance of care needed to foster satisfying relationships, while also sustaining one’s own well-being.

Connecting

We study how the emotions we express and perceive in others affects our ability to build deeper social connections.

Well-Being

We study how emotions and motivations uniquely shape personal well-being, partner well-being, and overall relationship quality.

Recent News

Claire Shimshock Receives her PhD!

Claire Shimshock successfully defended her dissertation, “Understanding judgments and consequences of amplifying positive emotions.” We are delighted that Claire will be continuing her work in the Le Lab as a postdoctoral fellow next year. In this next stage, she will be taking her multi-method work on close relationships and well-being in new directions. Congrats, Dr. Shimshock!

New Research Appears in Social Psychological and Personality Science

In the 2026 paper “Parenting self-expansion: Parenthood as a transformative and rewarding journey,” Princeton Chee, Emily Impett, Natalie Rosen, Amy Muise, and Bonnie Le find that parenting is filled with novel experiences with one’s child(ren) that broaden parents’ sense of self. These self-expanding experiences support parental well-being in daily life and during the transition to parenthood.

New Research Appears in the Journal of Family Psychology

In the 2026 paper, “Hope for our future: relational hope promotes relationship goal pursuit and well-being,” Claire Shimshock, Princeton Chee, Harry Reis, and Bonnie Le find that relational hope, or positive expectancies to meet desired goals, faciliates goal pursuit and relationship well-being over time.

New Research Appears in Social Psychological and Personality Science

In the 2026 paper “Feeling pride and awe in parenthood: The unique emotional rewards of parenting on well-being,” Princeton Chee, Claire Shimshock, and Bonnie Le find that parents have distinctly different well-being experiences when they experience pride (i.e., greater pleasure) and awe (i.e., greater pleasure, purpose, and variety) with their children.

New Research Appears in Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences

In the 2026 paper, “Harnessing the benefits of honesty for individuals, relationships, and society,” Bonnie Le and William Chopik describe the implications of honesty for policy in three key domains: in interpersonal and group relationships, within healthcare settings between patients and providers, and in broader online settings.

New Research Appears in Emotion

In the 2026 paper, “How honesty shapes the personal and interpersonal benefits of gratitude,” Bonnie Le, Claire Shimshock, Princeton Chee, and Jenny Le find that honesty about gratitude strengthens relationships, with this being especially true when people perceive greater honesty, regardless of whether their partner is actually being honest.

Princeton Chee Presents at SPSP

At the 2026 Annual Meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Princeton chaired the symposium “Parenting and flourishing: Emotions, goals, and self-expansion in the family.” As part of this symposium, Princeton gave a talk titled “Parenting self-expansion: The personal and relational benefits of parenting growth.”

Michelle Kang Presents at SPSP

At the 2026 Annual Meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Michelle presented a poster on her work, “Linking perceived partner emotion regulation to stress, loneliness, and perceived support.”

Gideon Park Presents at SPSP

At the 2026 Annual Meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Gideon presented a poster on his work, “Keeping score, feeling poor: Exchange orientation predicts lower relationship satisfaction through diminished gratitude.”

Claire Shimshock Presents at SPSP

At the 2026 Annual Meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology main conference, Claire presented her work on “Taking ‘thank you’ to heart: Responses to gratitude shape its emotional and relational benefits.” At the Close Relationships Preconference, Claire also presented on her work, “You inspire me: The role of romantic partner inspiration on goal pursuit and relational well-being.”

Laura Taglioni Presents at SPSP

At the 2026 Annual Meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, Laura presented a poster on her work, “Regulating partners: Emotions as mechanisms for change in intimate relationships.”

Bonnie Le Receives the Rusbult Young Investigator Award

Bonnie Le received the Rusbult Young Investigator Award at the 2026 Annual Meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. This award is presented annually to an investigator who has made original and important contributions to relationship science. As part of the award, Bonnie gave a talk at the Close Relationships Preconference on “Fostering well-being in how we care and what we share.”