Todd Barrett Kashdan

A world recognized authority on well-being, strengths, social relationships, stress, and anxiety, Dr. Todd Kashdan has published over 225 research articles in peer-reviewed journals and is the author of several books including his best-seller The Upside of Your Dark Side (Penguin), and more recently, The Art of Insubordination: How to Dissent and Defy Effectively (Penguin). His books have been translated into over 15 languages. He is a scientific advisor of Time, Inc., National Geographic, and Merck. He gives keynotes to organizations as diverse as Microsoft, Mercedes Benz, the United States Department of Defense, the World Bank, Hormel, General Mills, Gensler, the Gap, and Standard Chartered Bank. 

His work has been featured on CNN and NPR, as well the Harvard Business Review, The Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Time Magazine, Newsweek, Fast Company, and Scientific American, along with other media outlets. He writes regularly for his Substack Newsletter: Provoked

He's a twin with twin 17-year old daughters (plus one more), with plans to rapidly populate the world with great conversationalists.

Access his scientific articles and freelance writing: toddkashdan.com

Current Research

He leads The Well-Being Laboratory at George Mason University.

Exploring the nature, causes, and consequences of well-being, psychological flexibility, and personality strengths; stress tolerance and resilience in everyday life; clarifying and developing purpose in life as a naturalistic intervention; behavioral observation studies of strength use and emotion regulation in romantic couples; emotion agility and differentiation as resilience to substance abuse, aggression, and other maladaptive coping strategies. His most recent work focuses on how vitality, curiosity, resilience, and purpose operate in business organizations, and interventions to improve civil discourse in society. 

Research and Awards

Awards

• 2018 Fellow, Society for Personality and Social Psychology
• 2015 Fellow, Association for Psychological Science
• 2015 Fellow, Association for the Advancement of Behavioral and Cognitive Therapies
• 2015 Fellow, Association for Behavioral and Contextual Science
• 2013 American Psychological Association (APA) Distinguished Scientific Award for Early Career Contribution to Psychology
• 2012 Distinguished Research Fellow Award- International Society for Quality of Life Studies
• 2011 Psychologies Magazine list of "58 people who have changed our lives"
• 2010 Distinguished Faculty Member of the Year- GMU Alumni Association
• 2010 Outstanding Faculty Award Finalist, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia
• 2009 Outstanding Faculty Award Finalist, State Council of Higher Education for Virginia
• 2007 Mason Emerging Research, Scholar, Creator Award (given to 3 distinguished faculty within 10 years of receipt of doctoral degree)

Research

• Kashdan, T. B., McKnight, P.E., Kelso, K., Craig, L., Guenoun, B., & Naughton, C. (in press). Multiple dimensions of workplace curiosity: Evidence of generalizability in nine countries. Personality and Individual Differences
• Ginat-Frolich, R., Gilboa-Schechtman, E., Huppert, J. D., Aderka, I. M., Alden, L. E., Bar-Haim, Y., Becker, E.S., Bernstein, A., Geva, R., Heimberg, R.G., Hofmann, S.G., Kashdan, T.B.... & Wieser, M. J. (in press). Vulnerabilities in social anxiety: Integrating intra-and interpersonal perspectives. Clinical Psychology Review, 102415.
• Kashdan, T. B., Goodman, F.R., McKnight, P.E., Brown, B., & Rum, R. (2024). Purpose in life: A resolution on the definition, conceptual model, and optimal measurement. American Psychologist, 79, 838-853.
• Kashdan, T.B., Harrison, S.H., Polman, E., & Kark, R. (2024). Curiosity in organizations: Addressing adverse reactions, trade-offs, and multi-level dynamics. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 129, 104274
• Kaczmarek, L.D., Enko, J., Behnke, M., & Kashdan, T.B. (2024). How curiosity enhances performance: Exploring the mechanisms of physiological engagement, challenge and threat appraisal, and novelty deprivation. Journal of Happiness Studies
• Iasiello, M., Ali, Kathina, van Agteren, J., Kyrios, M., Kashdan, T.B., & Fassnacht, D.B. (2024). What’s the difference between measures of wellbeing, quality of life, resilience, and coping? An umbrella review and concept map of 155 measures of positive mental health. International Journal of Well-Being

2025 Courses Offered

• PSYC 231- Social Psychology: Study of human behavior development in a social matrix, including such topics as socialization, cultural behavior, group norms, and attitude formation.
• PSYC 417 - Science of Well Being: This course will examine and interpret the latest research in social, personality, and clinical psychology on well-being, character strengths, and personal growth. Emphasis will be placed on the ways in which scientists generate hypotheses regarding the nature of positive psychological traits and processes and the methods by which these ideas are tested.