Balancing Present and Future

In many situations, people are forced to trade off between present and future outcomes. How do people of different ages balance such situations – especially when important health consequences are at stake? Our findings suggest that self-continuity, a sense of connection with who we were in the past and will be in the future, can help to navigate difficult choices – in part, because it helps us predict our own future preferences.

Social Relationships

As people get older, their social relationships change. In particular, close social ties to immediate family become more important in later life.  We examine how this affects health-relevant contexts such as shared medical decision making and caregiving.

Life Events

How does our personality influence the way we deal with stressful life events, and how do relatively stable traits play out as we navigate dynamic experiences such as retirement, health problems, and trauma? Across diverse groups of participants, we have found that stable personality traits can convey vulnerability or protection, but the specific mechanisms behind such effects vary across contexts and populations.

Perceptions of Aging

Growing evidence suggests that our views of aging not only affect how we treat older people but also how well (or poorly) we age ourselves. Our laboratory has found that while some aspects of aging perceptions appear to be universal, others vary across cultures, and this may account for disparities in aging outcomes across the world.

Translational Approach

Across the different research domains, our laboratory adopts a translational approach by which basic research conducted in laboratory settings is transferred into clinical and practice contexts with the ultimate goal of advancing public health. Strong ties with Weill Cornell Medicine allow us to examine how basic age-related changes play out in clinical populations, particularly with regard to managing pain in later life.

Edited Books

Ong, A.D., & Löckenhoff, C.E. (Eds.). (2016). Aging, emotion, and health. American Psychological Association.

Hess, T., Strough, J., & Löckenhoff, C.E. (Eds.). (2015). Aging and decision making: Empirical and applied perspectives. Elsevier.

See Google Scholar for a complete list of publications.

Director

Dr. Corinna Loeckenhoff is the Janet and Gordon Lankton Professor of Psychology at Cornell University and a Professor of Gerontology in Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of Marburg, Germany and her Ph.D. from Stanford University. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the intramural research program of the National Institute on Aging before joining Cornell University.

Dr. Loeckenhoff is a Fellow of the Gerontological Society of America and of the Association for Psychological Science. She was identified as a Rising Star by the Association for Psychological Science and received the Margret M. and Paul B. Baltes Foundation Award in Behavioral and Social Gerontology from the Gerontological Society of America. Her efforts were recognized by SUNY Chancellors Awards for Teaching Excellence and Faculty Service. 

Graduate Students

Yi Lu is a fifth-year Ph.D. student in the Healthy Aging Laboratory. Her research focuses on self-continuity, the sense of connectedness with one’s past and future selves. At the Healthy Aging Lab, her recent projects assess self-continuity across temporal dimensions, age groups, and countries, examine its patterns during the pandemic, and explore potential longitudinal health precursors. Additionally, she is interested in age-related differences in intertemporal, prosocial, and risky decision-making.

Tess Wild is a third-year PhD student in the Healthy Aging Laboratory. Broadly, she is interested in how people adapt to aging and its concomitant changes. Her research focuses on the interactive nature of decision-making and the value of social relationships as a resource for healthy aging. Recent projects have examined life-span age differences in help seeking from social partners during decision-making.

Undergraduate Students
 

Elizabeth Aldous
MAJOR: Human Biology, Health, & Society (MINOR in Gerontology)
CLASS: 2026
WHY I JOINED THE LAB: I am passionate about studying how changes in the physical structures of the brain influence cognitive processes of the mind over time, and how these changes are shaped by the interplay between biological and environmental influences.
EXTRACURRICULARS: Loaves and Fishes Committee of PATCH, Phi Delta Epsilon, Tutor at BJM Elementary School in Ithaca, Club Track & Field.

Riya Kumar
MAJOR: Human Biology, Health, and Society
CLASS: 2026
WHY I JOINED THE LAB: My experience as a TA for HD 2180 sparked my interest in holistically understanding how life choices affect healthy aging and quality of life. 
EXTRACURRICULARS: PulseGuard, Cornell Center of Health Equity, Alpha Iota Gamma Professional Healthcare Fraternity, Cornell Daily Sun

Justin Taveras 
MAJOR: Human Development, Minor: Gerontology
CLASS: 2027
WHY I JOINED THE LAB: I am interested in the field of gerontology and its association with medicine. I want to be able to get a deep understanding and find ways in which I can have an impact on the aging world. 
EXTRACURRICULARS: Cornell’s Chapter of the International Honor Society for Psychology (Psi Chi), Pre-Professional Program (P3), EOP/HEOP scholar, and Quisqueya Cornell Social Media Manager.

Michael Zhong
MAJOR: Human Biology, Health and Society
CLASS: 2023
WHY I JOINED THE LAB: I am interested in learning and exploring different ways to improve the health of the aging population and support them in making better health decisions.
EXTRACURRICULARS: Cornell American Red Cross, Photography 

Contact us today to participate in our research. Most studies take place on Cornell University's Ithaca Campus (free parking provided), but we occasionally gather data online as well. For more information on ongoing projects, call (607) 255-2457 or email us.