PROFILE

Kristina K. Castaneto earned her master’s degree in psychology at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, Canada. In June 2022, she earned her B.A. honors in applied psychology at Douglas College, with specializations in pre-counseling, and disability in applied behavioral analysis. her research interests generally include subjective happiness, well-being, morality, and social connections. Her honors thesis, supervised by Dr. Roger Tweed, focused on the proposal and preliminary scale development of a construct coined as “nuanced perceptions of others’ valence”—the readiness to perceive other people as being a mix of good and bad. Under the supervision of Dr. Lara Aknin, she successfully defended her M.A. thesis focused on the act of reaching out to old friends—friends we care about but with whom we have lost touch. Specifically, she explored who reaches out to their old friends, what they say, and how they feel afterward. As she begins her Ph.D., she looks forward to further expanding the research on old friends and friendship connection in relation to well-being!