2006 Clifton Strength Prize Winner
Shelley E. Taylor is a leading positive psychology scholar whose groundbreaking research examines how positive psychological and social resources (e.g., social support, optimism) can protect one’s health. She has published over 300 papers that have shaped our understanding of factors that buffer individuals from the deleterious effects of stress, and the mechanisms through which this occurs. Dr. Taylor received her bachelor’s degree from Connecticut College and her Ph.D. from Yale University. After teaching at Yale and Harvard University, she joined the faculty of University of California, Los Angeles in 1979, where she is currently a Distinguished Professor.
For the past 25 years, much of Dr. Taylor’s research has delineated how social and psychological resources promote positive adaptation under threatening situations. For example, she has documented that holding positive beliefs about the self or expectations about the future predict enhanced psychological and physical health, even when these beliefs are overly optimistic or unrealistic (i.e., positive illusions). Dr. Taylor and her colleagues have found that these health benefits are due, in part, to reduced biological responses to stressors (e.g., dampened cardiovascular, hormonal, and immune reactivity) among individuals possessing these positive beliefs. She has tested her theories not only in healthy adults, but also in individuals facing life-threatening illnesses, enabling her to demonstrate that positive resources can prevent disease progression in certain populations. Dr. Taylor also has elucidated how supportive, nurturing relationships can have health-protective effects, particularly under stressful situations. Her theoretical and empirical work has identified specific biological substrates – such as oxytocin and endogenous opioids – that are implicated in these social processes, providing a potential mechanism linking positive social relationships with beneficial health outcomes.
Dr. Taylor’s work seamlessly integrates multiple scientific perspectives (e.g., health psychology, social neuroscience, genetics) and multiple levels of analysis (e.g., genetic contributions, neural mechanisms, emotional processes, physiological systems, cultural influences). As an illustrative example, Dr. Taylor and colleagues recently found that growing up in a supportive, caring environment protected genetically “vulnerable” individuals from depressive symptoms in adulthood, demonstrating a powerful interaction between social processes, genetic predispositions, and positive health outcomes. Her unique brand of cross-cutting, interdisciplinary research has important applications for intervening to protect and optimize health and well-being.
Dr. Taylor has received the Association for Psychological Science’s William James Fellow Award and the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Contribution, the highest scientific honors bestowed by these organizations. She has received Distinguished Scientist awards from other organizations including the Society for Experimental Social Psychology and the Positive Psychology Initiative. She has been elected into selective scientific societies including the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, the Institute of Medicine and the National Academy of Sciences. These honors reflect Dr. Taylor’s seminal contributions to positive psychology and the broad impact of her work in psychology and medicine.
- Sally S. Dickerson
University of California, Irvine