I’m Taylor, a social psychologist studying everyday social connection.

I study the benefits and barriers to high-quality connection with strangers and weak ties, such as coworkers and acquaintances, and how these connections can best be cultivated to advance individual and collective flourishing.

Drawing on research on positive emotions and interpersonal processes, my work examines how everyday interactions beyond our inner social circles shape how we cooperate and relate to the broader social world, including the communities and organizations to which we belong.

I am a Visiting Research Fellow at the University of Sussex in the United Kingdom and a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill within the Department of Psychology and Neuroscience. I also serve as the Principal Investigator on a multi-country project funded by the Templeton World Charity Foundation investigating how improving social connection between strangers in everyday life promotes beliefs and behaviors conducive to collective flourishing.