Title: Assistant professor of philanthropic studies
Research interests/areas of study: gratitude, prosocial behaviors (helping behaviors), altruism, volunteerism (in the United States and abroad), giving behaviors
Educational experience: B.A. Psychology – Vassar College; Ph.D. Social Psychology – University of Minnesota
Previous experience: Postdoctoral researcher at the University of North Carolina
What drew him into the study of philanthropy: “After completing an undergraduate degree in psychology, I was working as a research assistant in a sleep lab. Although I found that work really interesting, around the same time I also volunteered teaching English at a public high school in Italy. That experience really drew me toward wanting to focus on social psychology, specifically the study of philanthropy, volunteerism, and what motivates people to help others and do positive things for their community and society. More recently, I also became interested in the emotion of gratitude and how it can promote these kinds of prosocial behaviors.”
Why the Lilly Family School of Philanthropy: “I initially heard of the Center on Philanthropy through its research, including the Philanthropy Panel Study, which I incorporated into some of my own work, and Giving USA. That’s a major contribution the school has made and continues to make. As I learned more about the center and then school, I became more interested in what was happening here. There are people studying philanthropy from a wide variety of perspectives and different academic areas, but all have the same interest in promoting and understanding philanthropy. I can learn a lot and conduct my own research, and hopefully collaborate with other people as well. That’s what drew me here.”
Benefits of studying philanthropy from an interdisciplinary perspective: “The question of ‘why do people help others?’ is a big question. I don’t think any one field is going to have all the answers to that question. It seems like collaboration between people who have different interests and backgrounds can be really helpful in grasping the answers to that question. I’ve already begun a collaboration with Dr. Deb Mesch, Dr. Una Osili, and Jacqueline Ackerman on how social psychological factors affect people’s giving behavior. I think it’s useful to have different lines of research that tackle the same kind of issue but from different angles.”
Practical benefits to studying philanthropy: “There’s a lot of need for philanthropy in the world. Answering questions like why people help others, why they get involved with philanthropy, and what keeps them involved over time clearly has a practical side to it. When we research those questions, the answers can then be used to encourage those kinds of behaviors in society, not only within one group but also across groups.”
What makes the school different: “The way that the school balances the focus on research about why people help other people combined with how it uses that knowledge to make a difference in the world by improving philanthropy. In other words, it’s a nice combination of interesting research and answering important questions but also using that knowledge to make the world a better place.”
Goals for research and classes here: “One nice thing about teaching here is that a lot of the students have experience as practitioners in philanthropy. They can actually put a lot of these ideas to use in the field and can see some benefits in their own work. I hope to work on research projects that are more student-driven as well.
“I’d also like to continue my research on gratitude and the influence of expressions of gratitude on people’s behavior. I’m interested in not only looking at positive aspects of gratitude expressions but potential negative ones as well, along with the dynamics of other emotional expressions in people’s every day interactions. This is a relatively new area of research, so there is still a lot to learn.”
Fun fact/free time: “I’m kind of a movie buff and I enjoy music and going to concerts. Every now and then, I also enjoy a good game of pinball. I like to travel, although lately I’ve just been enjoying exploring Indianapolis since I’m still new to this area.”
Leave a Reply