David DeSteno author photo
Image via Wikimedia Commons, sous licence CC BY 4.0.

David DeSteno

David DeSteno is an American psychologist and author whose work focuses on emotion, morality, self-control, and social behavior. A professor at Northeastern University, he wrote Emotional Success, The Truth About Trust, and How God Works, bringing behavioral science to broad audiences through widely read books and commentary.

Biographie et Parcours de l'Auteur

David DeSteno built his career at the intersection of social psychology, moral behavior, and public-facing writing. Educated at Vassar College, where he graduated with honors in psychology, he went on to earn an M.S., M.Phil., and Ph.D. in social psychology from Yale University, completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Ohio State University, and joined Northeastern University in 1999. He is now a professor of psychology there and directs the Social Emotions Group. One early turning point, by his own account, came as an undergraduate when he found himself deciding between religious studies and psychology, a choice that foreshadowed a career spent asking how people become more moral, connected, and compassionate. ((https://cos.northeastern.edu/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/desteno_cv.pdf))

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Citations

quote
What other emotion can do the same things? Pride
-Pride can be a virtue, but it needs to be the right kind of pride
quote
At base, emotions are about the future, not the past
-The fast track to a life well lived is feeling grateful
quote
Emotions are mental short-cuts
-How feeling proud or grateful influences your decisions
quote
When interactions aren’t one-offs, grateful people aren’t suckers
-Gratitude Helps You Cooperate. Does It Also Make You a Sucker?
quote
I have no agenda in this
-Why spirituality is important in our increasingly secular world

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