Richard E. Lucas

Short Biography

Richard E. Lucas is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Michigan State University and a Research affiliate of the German Institute for Economic Research. He received his AB in Psychology from Bowdoin College and his MA and PhD in Psychology from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on the causes and consequences of subjective well-being. In particular, he studies the association between extraversion and positive affect, the functions of positive affect, the role of social activity and social relationships in well-being, and the extent to which people adapt to major life events and life circumstances including marriage, widowhood, divorce, unemployment, and chronic disability. Dr. Lucas is also interested in measurement and he conducts studies designed to evaluate the psychometric properties of personality and well-being measures. He has authored or co-authored papers on these topics for journals such as the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Psychological Bulletin, American Psychologist, Annual Review of Psychology, Psychological Science, Current Directions in Psychological Science, Psychological Assessment, and Perspectives on Psychological Science.