
Ethan Kross, Ph.D.
Lab Director
Ethan Kross is a Professor in the University of Michigan’s Psychology Department and Ross School of Business. He is the director of the Emotion & Self-Control Lab. His research examines how people can control their thoughts, feelings and behaviors to improve their lives. He uses a variety of tools (e.g., behavioral, diary, physiological, neuroscience, social media) to address these issues and focuses on adult, child and clinical populations.Ethan was born and raised in Brooklyn, New York. He attended the University of Pennsylvania, where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and graduated magna cum laude. After earning his PhD in Psychology from Columbia University, Ethan completed a post-doctoral fellowship in social-affective neuroscience to learn about the neural systems that support self-control. He moved to the University of Michigan in 2008, where he founded the Emotion & Self-Control Lab.Ethan’s research has been published in Science, The New England Journal of Medicine, and The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, among other peer-reviewed journals. He has been interviewed on CBS Evening News, Good Morning America and NPR’s Morning Edition. His research has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The New Yorker, Harvard Business Review, USA Today, The Economist, The Atlantic, Forbes, and Time.
Click here for Ethan’s CV.
Post Docs


Kate Schertz
Kate is a post-doctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan. She received her M.A. and Ph.D. in psychology from the University of Chicago where she studied how urban greenspace influenced thoughts, feelings, and behaviors. She received a B.A. in Cognitive Science from the University of Pennsylvania. She is interested in combining experimental, ecological momentary assessment, social media, and spatial data to examine the ways in which our physical environment, in particular natural spaces, influences cognitive and affective processes, and the mechanisms for these effects. More info about Kate can be found on her website (https://kschertz.github.io/)
Alexandra Wormley
Alexandra is a post-doctoral fellow at the University of Michigan. She completed her M.A. and Ph.D. at Arizona State University, studying culture, ecology, and religion. Before graduate school, she got her bachelors in psychology and history at the University of Michigan. Currently, her work focuses on the intersection of national and religious cultural identities and how these impact our well-being (www.alexandrawormley.com).
Graduate Students



Micaela Rodriguez
Chayce Baldwin
Elizabeth Trinh
Micaela is a 4th year Ph.D. Candidate in Social Psychology working with Ethan Kross, Amie Gordon, and Shinobu Kitayama. She received her BA from Harvard University and her MS from the University of Michigan, both in Psychology. Micaela’s primary research stream examines when, for whom, and why spending time alone may promote or undermine our psychological well-being. She is particularly interested in helping people improve their solitary experiences to boost health and reduce loneliness. In a second research stream, Micaela explores how everyday experiences, such as music and social comparisons, can be strategically harnessed to regulate our emotions. To explore these questions, Micaela integrates frameworks from social-personality, clinical, and cultural psychology.
Chayce is a 4th year Ph.D. candidate at the University of Michigan. He received an MS in psychology from the University of Michigan, and a BS in psychology with a minor in statistics from Brigham Young University. Before beginning his PhD, Chayce worked as a lab manager for two years at the University of Pennsylvania, conducting research on self-regulation, behavior change, and character development in adolescents and adults. He is interested in discovering the ways that our everyday lives, emotions, and cognitions are shaped and regulated through our interactions with culture, religion, and ecology. Find out more about Chayce and his research by visiting his personal website (https://www.chaycebaldwin.com/).
Elizabeth Trinh is a Ph.D. candidate in Management and Organizations at the University of Michigan, Ross School of Business. Her research examines how individuals respond to struggles and adversities in their lives and the effects of these challenges on their well-being and work outcomes.



Noa Boker Segal
Hong Yi Koo
Ben Quist
Noa is an incoming graduate student in the Department of Psychology at the University of Michigan. She received both her BA and MA in psychology from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem. Her research focuses on people’s ability to regulate others’ emotions and be regulated by others. You can contact Noa for collaboration at noasegal@umich.edu.
Hong-Yi (Alfred) is a first-year Ph.D. student at the University of Michigan. He received his BA in Psychology and Sociology from the University of California, Riverside. He is interested in how positive psychology interventions, such as cultivating meaning in life and mindfulness, influence self-regulation and psychological well-being.
Ben Quist is a first year Ph.D. student in Management and Organizations at the Ross School of Business. Prior to Ross, he graduated magna cum laude from Brigham Young University with majors in psychology and English. Ben’s research seeks to discover how people can productively discuss topics and issues on which they passionately disagree, with particular emphasis on political conflict and polarization.
Lab Manager

Sofia Micale
Sofia graduated with her BA from the University of Michigan with high honors in psychology and cognitive science. She is interested in processes and practices that can be implemented for the cultivation of wisdom, insight, and self-transformation in therapeutic settings. Sofia plans to pursue her Ph.D. in Clinical Psychology.