People

Bonnie Le

Director

Bonnie is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of Rochester. Her research focuses on how emotions, motivation, and character strengths and virtues shape well-being.

 

Princeton Chee

Graduate Student

Princeton is broadly interested in positive processes and emotions, especially in the context of parent-child relationships. His research encompasses topics such as awe, pride, prosociality, and well-being.

 

Claire Shimshock

Graduate Student

Claire’s research focuses on the various emotions (e.g., gratitude) and motivational factors (e.g., hope) that influence couples’ relationship dynamics and overall well-being. She is also interested in how romantic partners can support or hinder each other’s pursuit and attainment of desired life goals.

 

Jenny Le

Affiliated Graduate Student

Jenny’s research broadly focuses on the role of empathy in the relationships that we have with others. Specifically, she is interested in studying how and when expressing empathy towards partners helps people feel satisfied in their relationships. Additionally, her research aims to understand whether putting in the effort to be empathic promotes positive relationship outcomes.

 

Anna Cummings

Le Lab Manager

Anna is general lab manager for the Le Lab. She previously was the project manager of the ROC Romantic Relationships Study for the Le lab.

 

 

Zoe Burroughs

Research Assistant

Zoe Burroughs is a third-year undergraduate majoring in Psychology and American Sign Language (ASL) with minors in Brain & Cognitive Sciences and Gender, Sexuality, & Women’s Studies. Her research interests involve examining emotional regulation and intrinsic motivation in interpersonal relationships. In the future, she desires to have a particular emphasis in minority populations such as LGBTQIA+ and neurodivergent communities, with social and clinical psychology as an area of expertise.

 

Enson Chen, commonly go by Enzo, is a second-year undergraduate majoring in Brain & Cognitive Science and Psychology. His research interests involve the relationships between both people on both the social and cognitive aspect. Specifically, he is interested in discovering more about the factors behind creating these relationships such as motivation and emotional regulation.

 

Yashika Dhall

Research Assistant

 

 

Malaya Hagge

Research Assistant

Malaya Hagge is a senior undergraduate Psychology major. Her focus of interest is on child development and how relationships impact the development of morality and empathy.

 

Irene Kim

Research Assistant

Irene Kim is a third-year undergraduate student double major in Psychology and Business. She is pursuing a career in Clinical Psychology, aiming to specialize in depression, anxiety, and sports therapy. Irene is passionate about providing accessible and culturally-aware mental health services to all.

Diane Nhuyen

Research Assistant

 

 

Hao (Sandy) Xu

Research Assistant

Sandy is a fourth-year undergraduate student who is majoring in psychology and minoring in Philosophy. Sandy is interested in social psychology, how different dynamics of interpersonal relationships affect individuals, and how family dynamics affect adolescents.

 

Kelly Zhang

Research Assistant

Kelly Zhang is a senior majoring in Psychology and minoring in Brain & Cognitive Sciences. She is strongly interested in developmental psychology and mental health counseling. Kelly aims to pursue a career in counseling psychology with a focus on intimate relationships and mindfulness-based interventions.

 

 

Andrew Zhou

Research Assistant

Andrew Zhou is a current senior, majoring in Applied Mathematics and Psychology. He is interested in well being within first generation students, and how parental relationships impact well being. He also wants to explore how to remove the stigma around mental health within the East Asian community, starting at the family level. 

 

 

Rochester Relationships Lab

Our lab is also part of a broader community of researchers in the Rochester Relationships Lab, which includes Harry Reis, Ron Rogge, and their students.

 

Research Assistant Alumni

Nancy Fan, Kan Guan, Maddi Hickman, Zhen Hu, Zoe Hynes, Abbey Kampel, Sua Kim, Aisha Leigh, Sophia Liu, Athena Li-Wu, Emma Marder, Helene Miao, Silvia Postigo, Kaylee Rosa, Iva Savic, Mariah Smith, Xihe (Aimee) Tian, Jacob Walters, Zitong (Joel) Wang, Shuyu Wei, Madison Zeng