My research interests include the study of self-regulation (how people plan, control, and revise their own actions as they pursue long-term goals that are important to them) and the roles played by emotions and expectations in this process. Specific areas of interest include future-oriented thinking (optimism, proactive coping, preventive behaviors), positive affect, and the processing of negative events and information. My current research examines these processes in the context of cancer genetic testing and other health-risk communications that offer people the opportunity to proactively manage cancer risk through prevention and early detection. I am also interested in the different ways in which people think about genetic causes (for example, of mental and physical health outcomes) and whether they are modifiable through behavioral or environmental factors.