About

Being effective and having success in one's personal and professional life is a puzzle all of us try to solve.

In the ASC lab we believe that being mindful of and managing the balance between the goals of "connecting" and "striving" lays the foundation for effective decisions and behavior. But various tools still need to be deployed to connect well and strive well.

Our mission in the ASC lab is to:

· continue to build the scientific case for the importance of connecting and striving in human cognition and behavior
· map out the toolbox of skills and behaviors people can use to foster connecting and striving well
· create interventions and coaching protocols for improving these skill sets and their application
We execute the mission of the lab by pursuing the following research programs:

· The Structure of the Social World and our Social Minds - We ask questions such as: What main categories of information do people use to judge others and themselves? What are the neural underpinnings of information related to connecting and striving? Are individuals from different cultures more similar in their connecting or striving tendencies?

· Social & Emotional Intelligence Processes - We ask questions such as: Can people stay mentally sharper (critical for striving) by socializing and connecting? What are the social dynamics and judgment processes that impede or foster connecting and negotiating well with others? What are the consequences for emotional wellbeing (also critical for striving) from connecting face to face versus computers and social networks?

· Tools for Connecting and Striving Well - We ask questions such as: When does connecting help or hurt one's ability to strive? Can biases and fears about others limit one's ability to innovate? How do people effectively build models of themselves and their opportunities and personal visions?



We use a variety of theoretical and methodological approaches to examine these questions, including those based in social psychology, social cognition, cognitive psychology, neuroscience, organizational behavior, entrepreneurship, and intelligence and general problem-solving.

Explore our latest research on Personal Social Networks here.