Tammy English

Tammy English is an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychological & Brain Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis, where she leads the Emotion and Relationships Laboratory. Her research investigates how individuals regulate emotions in real-world social contexts, with a focus on authenticity, interpersonal dynamics, and well-being across the lifespan.

• PhD, University of California, Berkeley
• MA, University of California, Berkeley
• BA, Swarthmore College

Her research interests span emotion regulation, social psychology, affective science, interpersonal relationships, and developmental psychology, with increasing emphasis on aging, cognitive factors, and diversity in educational contexts. She employs intensive longitudinal methods such as experience sampling and ambulatory assessment to capture emotional dynamics in daily life.

The most recent publications highlight trends in emotion regulation across adulthood, particularly how cognitive abilities, authenticity, and situational context influence regulatory success. Her work explores both intrapersonal and interpersonal emotion regulation, including its role in romantic relationships, intergroup interactions, and mental health conditions like depression. There is a strong methodological focus on ecological validity, momentary assessment, and distinguishing adaptive from maladaptive regulation.

• APS Fellow (2022)
• Tenured faculty (2019)
• Recipient of multiple NIA grants, including R01AG070139
• Mentor to award-winning students (ExpiWell Dissertation Award, SPSP Heritage Award)

Dr. English has advised numerous graduate students and postdoctoral researchers, including Tabea Springstein and Isidro Landa, and has secured significant grant funding from the National Institute on Aging to study the neural and motivational underpinnings of emotion regulation across the lifespan. Her lab collaborates widely, including with the Emotion and Mental Health Lab, and presents regularly at premier conferences such as the Society for Affective Science and the Association for Psychological Science.

The Emotion and Relationships Lab conducts cutting-edge research on how people manage emotions in social contexts across adulthood, with special attention to aging, cognitive health, and educational equity. The lab uses mobile sensing, experience sampling, and experimental designs to study emotion regulation in real time and real-world settings.