| 1 | Name: | Dr. Shelley Taylor | |
| Institution: | University of California, Los Angeles | ||
| Year Elected: | 2018 | ||
| Class: | 3. Social Sciences | ||
| Subdivision: | 305 | ||
| Residency: | Resident | ||
| Living? : | Living | ||
| Birth Date: | 1946 | ||
Shelley Taylor's research on positive illusions has clarified the socioemotional resources that the human mind uses to foster psychological adjustment in spite of adversity. Her research has also investigated social support and relationships coping mechanisms. An important finding of Taylor's work is that people generally have unrealistically positive but adaptive views of themselves, exaggerated perceptions of personal control, and unrealistic optimism about the future. Shelley Taylor is one of the founders of the fields of health psychology and social cognition. She has written many influential theoretical papers, as well as rigorous empirical ones, published in the top journals. In 2010 she received the Lifetime Achievement Award of the American Psychological Association. She was elected a member of the American Philosophical Society in 2018. | |||