Kirsten Westmoreland
Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Doerr Institute for New Leaders, Rice University
In 2017, Kirsten graduated cum laude from Washington State University with a Bachelor of Science in psychology, and in 2021 completed a Ph.D. in Psychological Science at the University of Bristol (United Kingdom). During her Ph.D., Kirsten worked as an Outreach Teacher for the School of Psychological Science and a teacher/mentor for the Science of Well-Being.
Kirsten’s Ph.D. research focused on the role of social context for the perception of basic vs. social emotions. Kirsten is also an active member of the European Association of Social Psychology where she is currently working on a collaboration studying the impact of group-based emotions on prosocial attitudes towards homeless populations. Other research interests include individual differences effects on emotion perception, the effect of affective social competence on leadership development, and the role of psychosocial well-being for effective leadership.