Since 2020, I am doing a PhD supervised by Gerben van Kleef and Suzanne Oosterwijk. My project focus on the motives and outcomes of exploring the suffering of strangers. This is a very common behavior, done by talking about distant others' stories, on social media, through movies, books, on the news, and many more. What do stories of hardship have that drag people's interest? This research project investigates psychological processes such as motivated empathy, social curiosity, interpersonal emotion regulation, and meaning-making. You can find a brief video of my PhD dissertation topic in the following link: https://youtu.be/7Twf5WLEMaE
Before my doctoral studies, I completed a BA in Psychology at Universidad Católica de Chile (2014) and an MSc in Social Cognition at University College London (2019). My master’s dissertation studied the impact of empathic accuracy and power status in voice behavior. I also have experience working as Research Assistant in Centro de Apego y Regulacion Emocional, Universidad del Desarrollo (2016-2020). There I was involved in projects about interpersonal stress, psychopathology, and parent-child interaction.