Health Psychology

Shelley E. Taylor is Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles. She received her Ph.D. in social psychology from Yale University. After a visiting professorship at Yale and assistant and associate professorships at Harvard University, she joined the faculty of UCLA. Her research interests concern the psychological and social factors that promote or compromise mental and physical health across the life span. Professor Taylor is the recipient of a number of awards—most notably, the American Psychological Association’s Distinguished Scientific Contribution to Psychology Award, a 10-year Research Scientist Development Award from the National Institute of Mental Health, and an Outstanding Scientific Contribution Award in Health Psychology. She is the author of more than 350 publications in journals and books and is the author of Social Cognition, Social Psychology, Positive Illusions, and The Tending Instinct. She is a member of the National Academies of Science and the National Academy of Medicine.