Education

B.A. degree in International Relations and Psychology from Koc University in Istanbul, Turkey,

Ph.D. in Social Psychology and Personality from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.

Her research explores different aspects of existential human motivation and its implications for individual and societal well-being. Psychology of peace and psychology of religion are among the topics she is currently working on.

Publications

Kesebir, P., & Diener, E. (2008). In pursuit of happiness: Empirical answers to philosophical questions. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3, 117–125.

Kesebir, P., & Diener, E. (2008). In defense of happiness: Why policymakers should care about subjective well-being. Happiness and Capabilities (L. Bruni, M. Pugno and F. Comim, Eds.). London: Oxford University Press.

Diener, E., Kesebir, P., & Lucas, R. (2008). Benefits of national accounts of well-being—For societies and for the psychological science. Applied Psychology, 57, 37–53.

Kesebir, P., & Hong, Y.-Y. (2008). The pain-buffering functions of money and social support: A motivational account. Psychological Inquiry, 19, 196–198.

Tov, W., Diener, E., Kesebir, P., & Harter, J. (2009). The social and economic context of peace and happiness. In C-Y. Chiu, Y-Y. Hong, S.
Shavitt, & R. S. Wyer (Eds.), Understanding Culture: Theory, Research, and Application (pp. 239–255). New York: Psychology Press.

Kesebir, P. & Chiu, C.-Y. (2009). An invitation to pluralist public philosophy. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 9, 1–2.

Diener, E., Kesebir, P., & Tov, W. (2009). Happiness. In M. Leary & R.
H. Hoyle (Eds.), Handbook of Individual Differences in Social Behavior (pp. 147–160). New York: Guilford Press.

Kesebir, P. (in press). On the existential functions of culture: In pursuit of imperishability. To appear in Cultural Processes: A Social Psychological Perspective (A. Leung, C.-Y. Chiu, and Y.-Y. Hong, Eds.). New York: Oxford University Press.