Diana Tamir is a Professor of Psychology and Director of the Princeton Social Neuroscience Lab at Princeton University. Her research investigates how people think about their own internal mental lives and the minds of other people, exploring the cognitive, behavioral, and neural mechanisms that bridge our internal world with the external social environment. Tamir primarily focuses on how individuals use simulation to transcend the here and now, predict others’ future thoughts, feelings, and actions, and build mental models of the social world. Her work also examines the fundamental social rewards that drive everyday human interaction, such as why people frequently engage in self-disclosure and share their lives on social media. Additionally, she explores how creative expertise—such as that found in writers and actors—relates to the ability to vividly imagine different perspectives, times, and hypothetical realities.
Management and Human Resources Department