Dr. Ozlem Ayduk

Biography

Ozlem Ayduk is a Professor and Chair in the Department of Psychology at the University of California, Berkeley. She holds a Ph.D. from Columbia University. Her research interests center on close relationships, emotion regulation, and the development of self-regulation in children. Ayduk's work primarily explores the role of negative interpersonal schemas and social-cognitive mediators in personal and interpersonal adjustment, particularly focusing on the impact of rejection sensitivity—a personality disposition that develops from early rejection experiences. Her investigations reveal how rejection sensitivity correlates with issues such as depression, low self-esteem, and relationship difficulties. In her current studies, she examines how self-distancing can serve as a form of emotion regulation and its effects on emotional reactivity. She collaborates with other researchers to explore the neural correlates of self-regulation and delay of gratification in children, aiming to understand the cognitive and neural bases of these competencies that predict positive life outcomes. Ayduk has contributed extensively to literature on self-regulation and interpersonal dynamics, publishing numerous influential papers in prominent psychology journals.

Research Interests