Publications
Heshmati, S., *Rombaoa, J. P., *Williams, L., Hussein, D., Goicoechea, C., *Villamil, A., Oselio, C., Salamati, S., Abramson, C. A., Sánchez-Jánkowski, M., Anders, R., Perakakis, P., Donaldson, S. I., Fredrickson, B. L., & Oravecz, Z. (2026). Cultural models of everyday love in contemporary Spain: A mixed-methods cultural consensus study. European Journal of Social Psychology. Advance Online Publication. https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.70118 [PDF]
Williams, L., Salamati, S., Heshmati, S., & Oravecz, Z. (2026). Older adults share an agreement on experiences that elicit love: A study of consensus and individual differences in judgments. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbag192 [PDF]
Isioma Ojeahere, M., Jatchavala, C., Niu, H., Khan, N., Heshmati, S., …, & Ozge, K. (Accepted). Unmasking microaggressions: Experiences of women in clinical and academic psychiatry and the need for systemic reform. BMJ Mental Health. https://doi.org/10.1136/bmjment-2025-302360 [PDF]
Heshmati, S. Rajaei, A., Bhattcharya, S., *Rombaoa, J. P., Heshmati, H., & *Badakhshan, T. (2026). Discrimination, social support, and the well-being of Iranian Immigrants: Insights from minority stress theory. International Perspectives in Psychology: Research, Practice, Consultation, 15(2), 111–126. https://doi.org/10.1027/2157-3891/a000148 [PDF]
Heshmati, S., *Rombaoa, J. P., Merritt, S. H., & Christensen, A. P. (2025). Dynamic network models reveal personalized patterns of well-being in young adults’ daily lives. Scientific Reports, 15, article 44066, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-025-24897-6 [PDF]
Heshmati, S., Ramdass, J. V., Mansfield, M. E., Blackard, M. B., Chipidza, W., Abazari, A., Cabreros, E. I., Ellis, O., *Rombaoa, J. P., & Heshmati, H. (2025). Age and adaptation: Unraveling the role of social connections in coping with COVID-19 across young and older adults. International Journal of Developmental Science, 19(3-4), 147-162. https://doi.org/10.1177/2192001X251352861 [PDF]
Chuan-Peng, H., Xu, Z., Lazić, A., Bhattacharya, P., Seda, L., Hossain, S., ...Heshmati, S.,… & Azevedo, F. (2025). Open science in the developing world: A collection of practical guides for researchers in developing countries. Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science, 8(3), https://doi.org/10.1177/25152459251357565 [PDF]
*Rombaoa, J.P., Heshmati, S., Rodriguez, M., & Owen, T. (2025). Prioritizing lifestyle factors for effective emotion regulation: A daily study on first-year college students’ well-being during COVID-19. Emerging Adulthood, 13(4), 1065–1081. https://doi.org/10.1177/21676968251333833 [PDF]
*Williams, L., Kim, S. H., Li, Y., Heshmati, S., Vandekerckhove, J., Roeser, R. W., & Oravecz, Z. (2025). How much we express love predicts how much we feel loved in daily life. PLOS One. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0323326 [PDF]
Goicoechea, C., Dakos, V., Sanabria, D., Heshmati, S., Westhoff, M., Banos, O., Pomares, H., Hofmann, S. G., & Perakakis, P. (2024). Bistability and affect shift dynamics in the prediction of psychological well-being. Emotion. Advance online publication. https://doi.org/10.1037/emo0001454 [PDF]
*Williams, L., Heshmati, S., Vandekerckhove, J., Oravecz, Z. (2025). Current methodological approaches for studying the association between love and psychological well-being in daily life. In Mayer, CH., & Vanderheiden, E. (eds) International Handbook of Love, (pp. 1–16). Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-76665-7_75-1 [PDF]
Li, Y., Williams, L., Muth, C., Heshmati, S., Chow, S., & Oravecz, Z. (2024). A growth of hierarchical autoregression model for capturing individual differences in changes of dynamic characteristics of psychological processes. Structural Equation Modeling: A Multidisciplinary Journal, 1–14. https://doi.org/10.1080/10705511.2024.2402328 [PDF]
Heshmati, S., Muth, C., Li, Y., Roeser, R. W., Smyth, J. M., Vandekerckhove, J., Chow, S.-M., & Oravecz, Z. (2025). Who benefits from mobile health interventions? A dynamical systems analysis of psychological well-being in early adults. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 17(3), e70037. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.70037 [PDF]
Rajaei, A., Heshmati, S., & Giesemann, X. (2024). Mindfulness in patients with cancer is predictive of their partners’ lowered cancer-related distress: An actor-partner interdependence model of spirituality and mindfulness in dyads facing cancer. The American Journal of Family Therapy, 52(3), 276–294. https://doi.org/10.1080/01926187.2022.2106460 [PDF]
*Merritt, S. H., Heshmati, S., Oravecz, Z., & Donaldson, S. I. (2023). Web of well-being: Re-examining PERMA and subjective well-being through networks. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2023.2209538 [PDF]
Westhoff, M., Heshmati, S., Siepe, B., Vogelbacher, C., Ciarrochi, J., Hayes, S. C., & Hoffman, S. G. (2024). Psychological flexibility and cognitive-affective processes in young adults’ daily lives. Scientific Reports, 14, 8182. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-024-58598-3 [PDF]
*Ellis, O., Heshmati, S., & Oravecz, Z. (2022). What makes early adults feel loved? cultural consensus of felt love experiences in early adulthood. Applied Developmental Science, 1–17. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2022.2158086 [PDF]
Heshmati, S., Westhoff, M., & Hoffman, S. G. (2024). Novel approaches toward studying change: Implications for understanding and treating psychopathology. Psychiatric Clinics of North America, 47(2), 287–300. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psc.2024.02.001 [PDF]
Heshmati, S., Muth, C., Roeser, R. W., Smyth, J., Jamalabadi, H., & Oravecz, Z. (2024). Conceptualizing psychological well-being as a dynamic process: Implications for research on mobile health interventions. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 18(1), e12933. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12933 [PDF]
Heshmati, S., Uysal, N. K., Kim, S. H., Oravecz, Z., & Donaldson, S. I. (2023). Momentary PERMA: An adapted measurement tool for studying well-being in daily life. Journal of Happiness Studies. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-023-00684-w [PDF]
Stocker, J.E., Koppe, G., Reich, H., Heshmati, S., Kittel-Schneider, S., Hofmann, S. G., Hahn, T., van der Maas, H. L. J., Waldorp, L., & Jamalabadi, H. (2023) Formalizing psychological interventions through network control theory. Scientific Reports, 13. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-023-40648-x [PDF]
*Villamil, A., & Heshmati, S. (2023). Engaging in the good with technology: A framework for examining positive technology use. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1–11. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2023.1175740 [PDF]
Heshmati, S., Sbarra, D. A., & Benson, L. (2023). Integrating multiple time-scales to advance relationship science. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 40(4), 1069-1078. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075231152562 [PDF]
Bhattacharya, S., Goicoechea, C., Heshmati, S., Carpenter, J. K., & Hofmann, S. G. (2023). Efficacy of cognitive behavioral therapy for anxiety-related disorders: A meta-analysis of recent literature. Current Psychiatry Reports, 25, 19–30. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11920-022-01402-8 [PDF]
Heshmati, S., DayRomano, E., *Chow, C., Doan, S. N., & Reynolds, K. D. (2023). Negative emodiversity is associated with emotional eating in adolescents: An examination of emotion dynamics in daily life. Journal of Adolescence, 95(1), 115–130. https://doi.org/10.1002/jad.12103 [PDF]
Heshmati, S., Ramdass, J. V., Rombaoa, J.P., *Ellis, O., Abazari, A., Heshamti, H., & Mansfield, M. E. (2022). Survey examination of resilience, psychological, and relational well-being during COVID-19: A developmental and cross-cultural dataset [Data article]. Data in Brief, 108735. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.dib.2022.108735 [PDF]
Heshmati, S., Oravecz, Z., Brick, T. R., & Roeser, R. W. (2022). Assessing psychological well-being in early adulthood: Empirical evidence for the structure of daily well-being via network analysis. Applied Developmental Science, 26(2), 207–225. https://doi.org/10.1080/10888691.2020.1766356 [PDF]
Giesemann, X., Heshmati, S., & DeHart, J. (2023). A developmental approach to examining well-being in the context of the cancer patient and caregiver relationship. Journal of Clinical & Developmental Psychology. https://doi.org/10.13129/2612-4033/0110-3587 [PDF]
Dickens, C. N., Gray, A. L., Heshmati, S., Oravecz, Z., & Brick, T. R. (2021). Daily implications of felt love for sleep quality. The American Journal of Psychology, 134(4), 463–477. https://doi.org/10.5406/amerjpsyc.134.4.0463 [PDF]
Donaldson, S. I., Heshmati, S., Lee, J. Y., & Donaldson, S. I. (2021). Examining building blocks of well-being beyond PERMA and self-report bias. The Journal of Positive Psychology, 16(6), 811–818. https://doi.org/10.1080/17439760.2020.1818813 [PDF]
Heshmati, S., & Oravecz, Z. (2022). I feel loved when other people feel loved: Cultural congruence in beliefs on love is related to well-being. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 39(2), 347—371. https://doi.org/10.1177/02654075211036510 [PDF]
Donaldson, S. I., Heshmati, S., & Donaldson, S. I. (2021). Global perspectives on positive psychological science. In A. Kostic & D. Chadee (Eds.), Positive psychology: An international perspective (pp. 201–213). John Wiley. Google Books [PDF]
Heshmati, S., *Blackard, M. B., Beckmann, B., & Chipidza, W. (2021). Family relationships and adolescent loneliness: An application of social network analysis in family studies. Journal of Family Psychology, 35(2), 182–191. https://doi.org/10.1037/fam0000660 [PDF]
Heshmati, S., *Cabreros, E., *Ellis, O., & Blackard, M. (2016). Love and friendship across the lifespan. In Oxford research encyclopedia of psychology. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190236557.013.746 [PDF]
Oravecz, Z., Dirsmith, J., Heshmati, S., Brick, T. R., Vandekerckove, J. (2020). Psychological well-being and personality traits are associated with experiencing love in everyday life. Personality and Individual Differences, 153, 109620. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.paid.2019.109620 [PDF]
Heshmati, S., & Donaldson, S. I. (2020). The science of positive relationships and love. In S. I. Donaldson, M. Csikszentmihalyi, & J. Nakamura (Eds.), Positive psychological science: Improving everyday life, well-being, work, education, and societies across the globe (2nd ed., pp. 52–63) [PDF]
Heshmati, S., Oravecz, Z., Pressman, S., Batchelder, W., Muth, C., Vandekerckove, J. (2019). What does it mean to feel loved: Cultural consensus and individual differences. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 36(1), 214–243. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407517724600 [PDF]
Heshmati, S., Sbarra, D., A., & Mason, A., E (2017). The contemptuous breakup: Facial expressions of emotion and breakups in young adulthood. Personal Relationships, 36(1), 214–243. https://doi.org/10.1111/pere.12192 [PDF]
*Student co-authors
CONFERENCES
Heshmati, S. (May 30, 2026). Feeling Loved Across Cultures. Invited Keynote Speaker at the 10th Annual Western Positive Psychology Association (WPPA) Conference. Claremont, CA. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4esF5ffiq0M
*Rombaoa, J. P., *Allred, C., Doan, S. N., & Heshmati, S. (2026, April 24–26). Family emotional synchrony and adolescent well-being in daily life: A dynamic network analysis. [Conference talk]. California Well-Being Conference (CaWBC). Riverside, California.
*Rombaoa, J. P., *Williams, L., *Hussein, D., Oravecz, Z., & Heshmati, S. (2026, March 7). What makes people in Spain feel loved? The cultural consensus theory approach. [Online presentation]. Third Conference on Love Studies. International Institute of Love Studies. Online-only conference. https://youtu.be/I5JC-j2Ko-0?si=CbioBu4Z4IH4GhCr
Heshmati, S. (May, 2025). Cultural and Cross-Cultural investigations of Positive Relationships and Love. Invited Presidential Speaker at the Western Psychological Association (WPA). Las Vegas, NV
Heshmati, S. (April, 2025). The Power of Positive Emotions. Invited Keynote Speaker at the Western Positive Psychology Association (WPPA). Sacramento, CA.
Heshmati, S. [chair], & Oravecz, Z. [discussant]. (2025, May 23). Love in Everyday Life: A Cultural Consensus Theory Approach to Understanding What Makes People Feel Loved [Symposium]. 2025 Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, Washington, D. C.
Williams, L., Salamati, S., Heshmati, S., & Oravecz, Z. (2025, May 23).What makes older adults feel loved in everyday life? 2025 Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, Washington, D. C.
*Rombaoa, J. P. (2025, May 23). Do U.S. immigrants come to a unique consensus on what it means to feel loved in everyday life? 2025 Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, Washington, D. C.
*Villamil, A., Heshmati, S., Rombaoa, J. P., Williams, L., Liu, B., Oselio, C., Salamati, S., & Oravecz, Z. (2025, May 23). What does it mean to feel loved in Spain? A cultural consensus theory approach. 2025 Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, Washington, D. C.
Heshmati, S., *Rombaoa, J. P., *Villamil, A., & Oravecz, Z. (2025, March 14–16). Cultural Consensus Theory: An Overview of a culturally informed and novel approach to studying love in daily life. The Second International Conference on Love Studies (Online). International Institute of Love Studies. [PDF]
Kellam, H. J. (2024). Attachment, mindfulness, and emotion regulation: A study of emerging adults in the COVID-19 pandemic. [Poster presentation]. 2024 Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention. Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA. [PDF]
Villamil, A.*, Heshmati, S., Bowles, S. J. (2024). Technology and altruistic behaviors: How do young adults engage in the good with technology? [Poster presentation]. 2024 Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention. Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA. [PDF].
Villamil, A.*, Heshmati, S., Bowles, S. J. (2024). Technology and altruistic behavior: How do young adults engage in the good with technology? [Speaker presentation]. 2024 Western Psychological Association Annual Convention. Western Psychological Association, San Francisco, CA.
Rombaoa, J. P.*, Heshmati, S., Merrit, S. H., & Christensen, A. P. (2024, May 23–26). Temporal dynamics of well-being elements in young adults: A psychometric network analysis. [Poster presentation]. 2024 Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention. Association for Psychological Science, San Francisco, CA. [PDF].
Rombaoa, J. P.*, & Heshmati, S. (2024, May 15–17). Cultural consensus on love: Unveiling immigrants’ shared beliefs on love in the United States. 2024 TLC Love Conference. The Love Consortium, Chapel Hill, NC. [Slides; Recording of Talk]
Heshmati, S. [chair]. (2023, May 26).The Protective Role of Interpersonal Support in Times of Crisis: A Developmental, Cross-Cultural, and Socioeconomic Analysis of Social Relationships during COVID-19 [Symposium]. 2023 Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, Washington, D. C. PDF of Slides
*Badakhshan, T., *Liu, B., *Reil, K., *Rombaoa, J. P., *Donaldson, R., & Heshmati, S. (2023, May 26). Cultural variations in social support and coping with the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-country comparison of China, Iran, and the United States. 2023 Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, Washington, D. C.
*Villamil, A., *Su, K., *Kellam, H., *Mansfield, M. E., *Rombaoa, J.P., & Heshmati, S. (2023, May 26). Interpersonal closeness in younger & older adults during COVID-19: An examination of developmental differences in coping with a mass disaster in the United States. 2023 Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, Washington, D. C.
*Reil, K., Bono, G., Duffy, T., Hescox, J. Moreno, S., & Palacios, M. (2023, May 26). SES differences in urban university students’ mental health, stress, and resilience during the onset of COVID-19. 2023 Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, Washington, D. C.
*Rombaoa, J. P. (2022, May 28). Factors and networks of well-being in emerging adults: Comparing subjective well-being and PERMA [Poster presentation]. 2023 Association for Psychological Science Annual Convention, Washington, D. C. https://osf.io/ryjkf/
*Mansfield, M. E., Ramdass, J. V., & Heshmati, S. (2022, February). Well-being during the COVID-19 pandemic: A cross-cultural investigation of coping factors in China, Iran, and the United States [Poster presentation]. 2022 Society for Personality and Social Psychology annual convention, San Francisco, CA.
*Rombaoa, J.P., Heshmati, S., Rodriguez, M., *Owen, T., Li, Y., Valdivia-Jauregui, L., Avendaño Dreyfuss, L., Ho, J., & Ledbetter, J. (2021, July 15–17). The daily use of DBT ABC PLEASE Skills and first-years students’ well-being during COVID-19: An ecological momentary assessment study. [Gallery presentation]. 7th International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) World Congress, Virtual, Online. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/6HE7U
*Ellis, O., Heshmati, S., Ramdass, J. V., Chipidza, W., *Rombaoa, J. P., Tang, Q., Heshmati, H., & Abazari, A. (2021, July 15–17). Pathways to wellbeing during COVID-19: A developmental examination of adaptation to a mass traumatic event. [Gallery presentation]. 7th International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA) World Congress, Virtual, Online. http://ippa-wc-2021.p.asnevents.com.au/days/2021-07-15/abstract/72515%20target=_blank
Heshmati, S., (2019, July). Understanding and improving wellbeing using Ecological Momentary Assessment (EMA) in the context of the PERMA model. Individual presentation within a symposium submission at the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), Melbourne, AU.
*Leigh, A., & Heshmati, S., (2019, July). Prevalence and Predictors of Meditation Use Among U.S. Adults: A Nationally Representative Survey. Poster presentation at the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), Melbourne, AU.
*Ellis, O., Heshmati, S., Oravecz, Z. (2019, May). Do emerging adults agree on what makes people feel loved: A Cultural Consensus Theory approach. Poster Presentation at the Association for Psychological Science (APS), Washington, DC.
Heshmati, S., (2019, April). The positive psychology of relationships, love, and online romance across the lifespan. Symposium at the Western Psychological Association (WPA), Pasadena, CA.
Heshmati, S., (2019, April). Diverse types of love and their relationship to well-being over the lifespan: Findings from ecological momentary assessment research. Individual presentation within a symposium submission at the Western Psychological Association (WPA), Pasadena, CA.
Heshmati, S., (2019, April). Well-being as a person-specific and dynamic state in young adulthood. Individual presentation within a symposium submission at the Western Psychological Association (WPA), Pasadena, CA.
Heshmati, S., (2019, January). New research on well-being and love across the lifespan. Individual presentation at the Western Positive Psychological Association (WPPA), Claremont, CA.
*Chan, L., Donaldson, S. I., Heshmati, S., Clague Dehart, J. (2019, January). Evaluating Optimal Wellbeing: Exploring Caregiver’s Daily Experiences in Caring for Patients. Individual presentation at the Western Positive Psychological Association (WPPA), Claremont, CA.
Heshmati, S., (2017, September). What makes people feel loved: Cultural consensus and individual differences. Tenth Annual Postdoctoral Research Exhibition, University Park, PA.
Heshmati, S., Oravecz, S. (2017, July). Dynamical interplay of wellbeing elements based on the PERMA model in ecological momentary assessment settings. Individual podium presentation at the International Positive Psychology Association (IPPA), Montreal, CA.
Heshmati, S. (2017, May). The effect of Positive Psychology and mindfulness interventions on well-being in daily life. Workshop at the Association for Psychological Science (APS), Boston, MA.
Heshmati, S., Oravecz, Z., Vandekerckhove, J. (2016, May). Exploring individual differences in judgments on what makes people feel loved. Presentation at the Association for Psychological Science (APS), Chicago, IL.
*Student co-authors
Heshmati, S., Williams, L., Hussein, D., *Rombaoa, J. P., Anders, R., & Oravecz, Z. (2026; under review). How adults in Spain perceive love: Individual differences in cultural attunement and evaluative style. PsyArXiv [Preprint]. https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/5MBEZ
*Rombaoa, J. P., & Heshmati, S. (2026; under review). Mapping the history, anatomy, and trajectory of research on well-being: A bibliometric review of the psychological sciences. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/cr4x3
Heshmati, S., *Rombaoa, J. P., & Hussein, D. (2026; under review). The scholarly terrain of the study of love: A bibliometric methods approach. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/5v2uy_v1
Panasiuk, S. L., Selcuk, E., Cachia, J. Y. A., Knapp-Loker, S. E., Vaughn, L., Sun, R., Gunaydin, G., Roberts, Y.P., Kilduff, G., Heshmati, S., Zhao, X., Rushton, K., Nguyen, T., Kulzhabayeva, D., Yen, R., Cheung, F., & Williams, J. J. (2025). Crowdsourced single-session positive activity interventions to enhance mood. PsyArXiv [Preprint]. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/fw6qn_v1
Heshmati, S., & *Rombaoa, J. (2025). Immigrants’ shared beliefs on love in the United States: Insights from a cultural consensus theory approach. PsyArXiv [Preprint]. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/mrvjt_v1
Heshmati, H., Heshmati, S., & Karami, H (2024). Passion and growth language mindset predict cognitive and metacognitive language learning strategy use: A study of EFL learners. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/5r43v_v1
Heshmati, S., Ramdass, J. V., Chipidza, W., Ellis, O., *Rombaoa, J. P., Tang, Q., Heshmati, H., & Abazari, A. (2020). Pathways to wellbeing are developmentally and culturally specific: adaptive processes in the context of COVID-19. PsyArXiv. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/74qag
