A key part of grasping a fuller understanding of human flourishing for creating a culture of health involves considering well-being as a continual process of healthy functioning that unfolds in context and over time, rather than a static endpoint of wellness. Human flourishing in the real-world and in real-time is often characterized by person-specific nuances that are most often clouded by aggregate-level assessments, overcasting the researcher’s view of the underlying contextual and cultural causalities. Using a dynamical systems approach, I will demonstrate Ecological Momentary Assessment and other field-based designs, ecologically valid measurement tools, and the analysis of intensive longitudinal data to uncover the complexities of individualized social and behavioral dynamics that shape health and well-being.
Dr. Saida Heshmati is an Assistant Professor of Psychology at Claremont Graduate University. Her research lies in the understanding of how optimal development unfolds over time in diverse samples through dynamical systems perspectives. Using her expertise in human development and state-of-the-art analytical methods, she examines large datasets related to individual and group characteristics that influence psychological well-being as part of positive development. Through her work, she aims to bring together a suite of measurement tools and research designs in the service of developing idiographic, culturally-informed, and context-sensitive approaches to understanding optimal development in youth, in particular those who are marginalized. Dr. Heshmati has a multicultural background which has informed her scientific research; she is an Iranian-American scholar and an immigrant who has lived in five different countries and travelled to more than 20 countries, and still counting.