معرفی
Dr. Jennifer Tehan Stanley is a Professor & Chair in the Department of Adult Development and Aging Psychology at the University of Akron. She directs the Emotions and Aging Lab, focusing on socioemotional functioning across the lifespan, particularly emotion recognition, emotion regulation, and humor appreciation. Her research explores cultural and contextual influences on aging, including studies on nostalgia, pandemic coping mechanisms, and intergenerational dynamics in Sub-Saharan Africa. Dr. Stanley holds a Ph.D. in Experimental Psychology from Georgia Institute of Technology (2008), with postdoctoral training at Brandeis University and the National Cancer Institute.
Her work bridges cognitive aging, cultural psychology, and health communication, with recent emphases on cross-cultural humor dynamics, pandemic-related emotional strategies, and ageism mitigation. Over 20 years of research has produced over 30 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, including contributions to Developmental Psychology, Psychology and Aging, and Innovation in Aging. She has developed novel methodologies like the Face Sort paradigm for emotion perception studies and actively promotes age-friendly educational initiatives.
Dr. Stanley's research agenda emphasizes translational outcomes, addressing real-world challenges such as improving deceit detection training for older adults and enhancing technology accessibility for aging populations. Her lab collaborates internationally, reflecting her commitment to global aging issues. Current projects investigate humor's role in mental health resilience and cultural variations in emotional expression across the lifespan.
Grant activities include NIH-funded studies on pandemic behavior change and NSF-supported work on intergenerational knowledge transfer. She serves on editorial boards for Psychology and Aging and Innovation in Aging, mentoring early-career researchers in lifespan developmental science.
