Faculty Profile

Dr William Tov completed his doctorate in social and personality psychology at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research focuses on the multilevel processes that underlie well-being. At the macro-level, he is interested in cultural similarities and differences in well-being as well as the societal-level conditions associated with well-being. At the micro-level, he examines fluctuations in emotion, satisfaction, and meaning—and how these fluctuations are influenced by positive personality traits, memory, and social interactions, and life circumstances. He was awarded a Lee Kong Chian Fellowship at SMU in recognition for excellence in research. He currently serves as co-deputy director of the Centre for Research on Successful Ageing (ROSA) which manages the Singapore Life Panel – a high-frequency monthly survey of the well-being of older adults in Singapore. His work has been published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Perspectives in Psychological Science, Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, and the Journal of Personality.

Qualifications

• PhD (Psychology), University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2008
• MA (Psychology), University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2006
• BA, University of California, Berkeley, 2002

Research Interests

• Well-Being and Personality in Everyday Life
• Social Implications of Personality Traits
• Social Media and Expressions of Personality and Emotion
• Cultural and Societal Influences on Well-Being and Personality Constructs
• Policy Implications of Well-Being Measures

Research Advisor/Co-Research Advisor To

• Jonathan Louis Chia Jie Sheng
• Clement Lau Yong Hao

Course(s) Taught in SMU

• Psychology Research Methods II
• Psychology of Well-Being
• Psychometrics & Psychological Testing