Sarah D. Pressman
Associate Dean, Division of Undergraduate Education
Professor of Psychology
Biography
Sarah D. Pressman, Ph.D., is Associate Dean of the Division of Undergraduate Education and Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Irvine. Pressman received her Ph.D. in Social, Personality and Health Psychology from Carnegie Mellon University in 2006. Her research examines how positive emotions, social connection, and everyday behavioral experiences influence physical health, stress resilience, immune function, and long-term well-being.
Pressman is an elected Fellow of the Society for Biobehavioral Science & Medicine, the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, and the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. She received the Herbert Weiner Early Career Award from the American Psychosomatic Society in 2015 and the Outstanding Contributions to Health Psychology Award from the American Psychological Association Division 38 in 2014. In 2023, she received the Contributions in Positive Health and Well-Being Research Award from the International Positive Psychology Association, and more recently she received the 2026 Society for Health Psychology’s (SfHP) Excellence in Health Psychology Mentoring Award. Her research has been funded by the National Institutes of Health, the AXA Research Fund, the John Templeton Foundation, and the U.S. Department of Defense, among others.
Pressman has published over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters, with her work cited more than 11,500 times. She served as Chair of the American Psychosomatic Society Annual Meeting in 2018 and 2019, and co-directed the COVID-19 Task Force for the Association for Psychological Science from 2021 to 2022. At UC Irvine, she served as Director of Graduate Programs for Psychology and Social Behavior from 2016 to 2018 and founded UCI Happiness Week, a campus-wide well-being initiative engaging thousands of students, faculty, and staff annually.
Return to topEducation
- Ph.D. in Social, Personality and Health Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, 2006
- M.S. in Social, Personality and Health Psychology, Carnegie Mellon University, 2002
- B.Sc. in Biopsychology, Mount Allison University, 2000
Distinctions
- Contributions in Positive Health and Well-Being Research Award, International Positive Psychology Association, 2023
- Springer Award for Excellence in Publication in Behavioral Medicine, 2023
- Fellow of the American Psychosomatic Society (now the Society for Biobehavioral Science & Medicine), 2023
- Fellow of the Academy of Behavioral Medicine Research, 2022
- Fellow of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, 2021
- Citation Poster Award, American Psychosomatic Society, 2008-2009, 2023
- Research Spotlight Award, Cogent Psychology, 2024
- Fast-Breaking Paper in the field of Psychiatry & Psychology, Thomson Essential Science Indicators, 2007
- Herbert Weiner Early Career Award, American Psychosomatic Society, 2015
Areas of Expertise
- Health Psychology
- Positive Affect and Immunity
- Facial Expression Physiology
- Stress Reactivity Mechanisms
- Biological and Psychological Energy
- Cardiovascular Disease
- Leisure Behavior
Recent Publications
- Pressman, S.D., Parks, A., “More Activities for Teaching Positive Psychology: A Guide for Instructors”, American Psychological Association, 2025.
- Luu, J. H., Acevedo, A. M., Pourmand, V., Pressman, S. D., “The Power of Smiles: Mitigating Pain through Facial Expression” (opens in new tab), Journal of Positive Psychology, vol. 21, pp. 321-330, 2025.
- Delgadillo, D., Borelli, J.L., Mayer, E., Labus, J., Cross, M.P., Pressman, S.D., “Biological, environmental, and psychological stress and the human gut microbiome in healthy adults” (opens in new tab), Nature: Scientific Reports, vol. 15, pp. 362, 2025.
- Ramirez V., Delgadillo D.R., Martin L.T., Pressman S.D., “Physiological Pathways Connecting Positive Affect and Health” (opens in new tab), Palgrave Handbook of Positive Psychology and Health, pp. 35-72, 2025.
- Kelly, C., Trumpff, C., Acosta, C., MiSBIE study group, “A platform to map the mind–mitochondria connection and the hallmarks of psychobiology: the MiSBIE study”, Trends in Endocrinology & Metabolism, vol. 35, no. 10, pp. 884-901, 2024.
- Jenkins, B.N., Martin, L.T., Lee, H., Hunter, J.F., Acevedo, A., Pressman, S.D., “Affect variability and cortisol in context: The moderating roles of mean affect and stress” (opens in new tab), Psychoneuroendocrinology, vol. 166, 2024.
- Qussiny, L, Wiley, C.R., Logan, M., Pressman, S.D., “Brief Report: Persevaritive cognition and behaviors during the early months of the COVID-19 pandemic” (opens in new tab), Cogent Psychology, vol. 11, no. 1, 2024.
- Ramirez, V., Gorey, C.M., Pressman, S.D., “Drink & Be Merry? The Interactive Associations Between Trait Affect and Alcohol in Real-World Drinking Environments” (opens in new tab), Cogent Psychology, vol. 10, no. 1, 2023.
- Toohey, S., Wray, A., Hunter, J.F., Saadat, S., Boysen-Osborn, M., Smart, J., Wiechmann, W., Pressman, S.D., “Author's Response to the Validity of Cortisol and Galvanic Skin Responses for Measuring Student Stress During Training” (opens in new tab), JMIR Medical Education, vol. 9, pp. e50902, 2023.
- Kraft-Feil, T., Ingram, R.E., Gorey, C., Luu, J.H., Cross, M.P., Pressman, S.D., “The influence of negative mood on automatic and effortful facial expression mimicry” (opens in new tab), Frontiers in Psychology - Emotion Science, vol. 14, 2023.
- DuPont, C.M., Pressman, S.D., Reed, R., Marsland, A.L., Manuck, S.B., Gianaros, P.J., “Does an online positive psychological intervention improve positive affect in young adults during the COVID-19 pandemic?” (opens in new tab), Affective Science, vol. 4, pp. 101-117, 2023.
- Delgadillo, D., Pressman, S.D., Christian, L.M., Galley, J.D., Bailey, M., “Associations Between Gut Microbes and Social Behavior in Healthy 2-Year-Old Children” (opens in new tab), Psychosomatic Medicine, vol. 84, pp. 749-756, 2022.
- DuPont, C.M., Pressman, S.D., Reed, R., Marsland, A.L., Manuck, S.B., Gianaros, P.J., “An online Trier Social Stress paradigm to evoke affective and cardiovascular responses” (opens in new tab), Psychophysiology, vol. 59, 2022.
- Cross, M.P., Acevedo, A.M., Leger, K.A., Pressman, S.D., “How and Why Could Smiling Influence Physical Health? A Conceptual Review” (opens in new tab), Health Psychology Review, vol. 23, pp. 1-23, 2022.
- Cross, M.P., Hunter, J.F., Smith, J.R., Twidwell, R.E., Pressman, S.D., “Comparing, differentiating, and applying affective facial coding techniques for the assessment of positive emotion” (opens in new tab), Journal of Positive Psychology, vol. 18, pp. 420-438, 2022.
- Wiley, C., Blevins, K., Cohen, S., Pressman, S.D., “Do Positive Psychological Factors Equally Predict Resistance to Upper Respiratory Infections in African and European-Americans?” (opens in new tab), Psychological Science, vol. 33, pp. 1509-1521, 2022.
- Toohey, S., Wray, A., Hunter, J., Waldrop, I., Saadat, S., Boysen-Osborn, M., Sudario, G., Smart, J., Wiechmann, W., Pressman, S.D., “Comparing the Psychological Effects of Manikin-Based and Augmented Reality–Based Simulation Training: Within-Subjects Crossover Study” (opens in new tab), Jmir Medical Education, vol. 8, no. 3, pp. e36447, 2022.
- Acevedo, A., Leger, K., Jenkins, B., Pressman, S.D., “Keep calm or get excited? Examining the effects of different types of positive affect on responses to acute pain” (opens in new tab), Journal of Positive Psychology, vol. 17, no. 3, pp. 409-418, 2022.
- Young Kuchenbecker, S., Pressman, S.D., Celniker, J., Grewen, K.M., Sumida, K.D., Jonathan, N., Everett, B., Slavich, G.M., “Oxytocin, cortisol and cognitive control during acute and naturalistic stress” (opens in new tab), Stress, vol. 24, no. 4, pp. 370-383, 2021.
Most Cited Publications
- Pressman, S. D., Cohen, S., “Does positive affect influence health?” (opens in new tab), Psychological Bulletin, vol. 131, pp. 925-971, 2005.
- Diener, E., Pressman, S.D., Hunter, J., Delgadillo-Chase, D., “If, why and when subjective well-being influences health, and future needed research” (opens in new tab), Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, vol. 9, pp. 133-167, 2017.
- Pressman, S., Cohen, S., Miller, G. E., Barkin, A., Rabin, B. S., Treanor, J. J., “Loneliness, social network size, and immune response to influenza vaccination in college freshmen” (opens in new tab), Health Psychology, vol. 24, pp. 297-306, 2005.
- Pressman, S.D., Jenkins, B., Moskowitz, J., “Positive Affect and Health: What do we know and where next should we go?” (opens in new tab), Annual Review of Psychology, vol. 70, pp. 627-650, 2019.
- Pressman, S.D., Matthews, K.A., Cohen, S., Martire, L., Scheier, M., Baum, A., Schulz, R., “The association of cumulative restorative activities with psychological and physiological well-being” (opens in new tab), Psychosomatic Medicine, vol. 71, pp. 725-732, 2009.
- Cohen, S., Pressman, S.D., “Positive affect and health” (opens in new tab), Current Directions in Psychological Science, vol. 15, pp. 122-125, 2006.
- Bessiere K., Pressman S., Kiesler S., Kraut R., “Effects of Internet use on health and depression: A longitudinal study” (opens in new tab), Journal of Medical Internet Research, vol. 12, 2010.
- Kraft, T.L., Pressman, S.D., “Grin and bear it: The influence of manipulated positive facial expression on the stress response” (opens in new tab), Psychological Science, vol. 23, pp. 1372-1378, 2012.
- Gallagher, M. W., Lopez, S. J., Pressman, S. D., “Optimism is universal: Exploring the Presence and Benefits of Optimism in a Representative Sample of the World” (opens in new tab), Journal of Personality, vol. 81, pp. 429-440, 2013.
- Pressman, S.D., Gallagher, M., Lopez, S.J., “Is the Emotion-Health Connection a "First World Problem"?” (opens in new tab), Psychological Science, vol. 24, pp. 544-549, 2013.
This profile was created with the help of AI.
Last updated on 5/11/2026.