Spring is in full bloom, and so is our project! After months of dedication and hard work, we're excited to share that all translations and transcriptions are officially complete. With guidance we previously received from experts at UC Berkeley and Rice University, we’ve now entered the qualitative coding phase of our research. Using ATLAS.ti, we’re carefully analyzing the interviews and focus groups, pulling out insights about how love is experienced and expressed in the Spanish culture.
This month also brought a few exciting opportunities to share our work with the world:
Saida Heshmati displaying positive emotions to the audience while giving her talk on the power of positive emotions! :)
At the Western Positive Psychology Association (WPPA) Conference in Sacramento,CA on April 4, 2025, Dr. Saida Heshmati was invited as a keynote speaker. She presented on positive emotions and love in a talk titled “The Power of Positive Emotions.”
*Photos courtesy of Shari Young Kuchenbecker, available online at https://wppanetwork.org/wppa-9th-annual-conference-april-4-6-2025-sacramento-ca/
Our very own lab manager, Jaymes Paolo Rombaoa, gave a guest lecture for an undergraduate course at Chapman University in Orange, California, on April 28, 2025. He was invited to give a guest lecture and critical thinking discussion on the construct of love in psychological science for the course, PSY 201: Critical Thinking. They discussed popular culture beliefs about love (e.g., love languages) versus love as it is studied by scientists in the fields of relationship science and psychology. Jaymes also provided an overview of major conceptualizations of love. The guest lecture also involved an in-class activity and discussion of the Felt Love Questionnaire (FLQ), with discussions on what it means to feel loved in daily life, cultural differences, and whether the class itself could come to a consensus on certain scenarios of Love from the FLQ.
At the Western Psychological Association (WPA) Conference in Las Vegas on May 3rd, 2025, Dr. Saida Heshmati was honored as a Presidential Speaker. Her talk, “New Directions in Cultural & Cross-Cultural Research on Love," explored the emerging work from our lab and highlighted the importance of culturally grounded approaches to studying love.
Photos courtesy of Shari Young Kuchenbecker, available at https://westernpsych.org/2025-convention-photos-6155/
A lively crowd after the talk—discussing the love research even further!
As we move into summer, we’re continuing to code our interviews and look forward to digging even deeper into the data with the start of the quantitative phase of our project. Stay tuned for more exciting updates around the corner! We also plan to dedicate our June blog post specifically to our upcoming late-May symposium presentation at the Association for Psychological Science 2025 Annual Convention!
And as always, thank you for following our journey of love across cultures.
