Steven J. Heine

Dr. Steven J. Heine is a Professor of Social and Cultural Psychology and Distinguished University Scholar at the University of British Columbia. As director of the Culture and Self Lab, he leads research programs in Cultural Psychology, Meaning Maintenance, and Genetic Essentialism.

• Current Roles: Lab Director, Culture and Self Lab; Professor, Department of Psychology, UBC
• Education: PhD from University of British Columbia; visiting positions at Kyoto University and Tokyo University

His research explores how culture shapes self-concept and meaning-making, genetic essentialism's societal implications, and existential responses to absurdity. Google Scholar lists over 15 recent publications (2025–2023) spanning cultural variation in sleep, AI ethics, moral psychology, and terror management theory. A Royal Society of Canada Fellow, he received the Distinguished Scientific Early Career Contributions to Psychology award in 2003. He advises PhD candidates Kate Guan and Dunigan Folk, and Master’s students Mike Mask and Yangyilin Guo. His books include Cultural Psychology (4th ed., 2020) and Start Making Sense (2025).

• Scientific Awards:
  • Royal Society of Canada Fellow
  • Award for Distinguished Scientific Early Career Contributions to Psychology (2003)