Getting to know Yale Leaders—Laurie Santos

Laurie Santos is a professor in the Department of Psychology and the interdisciplinary Cognitive Science Program as well as head of college for Silliman College. She is also director of the Comparative Cognition Laboratory (“CapLab”) and the Canine Cognition Center at Yale. Laurie studies the evolutionary origins of both our smarter human capacities and our not-so-smart capacities— such as our irrational economic biases and errors. Her “monkeynomics” studies on the latter topic were featured in a 2010 TED talk, which has been seen by over one million viewers. Laurie is also known worldwide for her class, “Psychology and the Good Life,” which is the most popular class in the history of Yale. As “The Science of Well-Being,” it has also become one of the most popular class ever to be available on Coursera, and is in podcast form as “The Happiness Lab.” Laurie received her A.B. in psychology and biology (1997) and Ph.D. in psychology (2003) from Harvard University. She joined Yale’s faculty in 2003 and has been recognized widely for her excellence in research and teaching. Her work has been featured in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, The Economist, and The New Yorker. Among Laurie’s many prizes and recognitions are Time Magazine naming her a “Leading Campus Celebrity,” and the Liberty Science Center selecting her for a Genius Award in 2018.

Now that her Silliman students have headed home of the semester, Laurie and her husband Mark Maxwell, associate head of Silliman College and lecturer in the Department of Philosophy, have been doing their best to enjoy their time at home during the pandemic.

What have been the challenges and the opportunities of the pandemic for you?
I’m used to traveling a lot for professional talks and conferences as well as to my field site in Puerto Rico for my research. It’s really sad in lots of ways not to be able to travel for the past few months. But this change in some ways has also been a blessing, as it means I can be more present in my role as head of Silliman College on campus. I also get to spend more time with my husband. And the popularity of virtual talks means I can now speak around the world from the luxury of my living room wearing my fuzzy socks.

What do you think is the best advice a leader can receive? There are lots of pieces of advice that come to mind, but a big one for me is just to listen more. As a manager and a leader, you forget that your voice can easily overtake the conversation if you’re not really careful. The privilege of being a leader means you can dominate a conversation without realizing it. You really need to make sure that you’re taking time to listen, because if you’re taking up all the airtime, you won’t be able to hear the solutions from people in your group because they haven’t had the opportunity to share them.

What book are you reading right now?
I’m currently reading a book by Timothy Carney called “Alienated America,” which focuses on how so many parts of our country, particularly the rural areas, feel alienated right now and how that gives rise to more political polarization. I’m reading it partly because we have a grant where we’re looking at improving well-being in rural communities, but also because I want to better understand people with different political views and backgrounds.

What musical artist do you listen to?
I often listen to a radio station on Pandora that is built off of artists like Paul Oakenfold, who was a 90s electronic dance music DJ. This station also plays songs from artists like John Digweed and Paul van Dyk. It’s a bit old school, but that’s actually the music I work to. But lately, I’ve been creating a holiday carols sing-along for my Silliman students and that means I’ve been listening to lots of Christmas songs old-by people like Bing Crosby, Nat King Cole, and others.

What are you most grateful for?
This is such a hard question because I’m grateful for so much. One of the things I teach in my happiness class is the importance of gratitude. I would have to say that I’m grateful these days for my students— both in Silliman and in my lab. They teach me so much and they keep me energized. They are the reason I do the work that I do.

If you could travel, where would you go?
The first place I would go once we can travel again is to London, which is where my friend and podcast producer Ryan lives. It’s been tough not being able to work in the same city, so I’d love to get back there soon. I enjoy traveling a lot, which means I’ve been to many places, but one place I haven’t been and would like to visit is Bora Bora. My husband and I never took a honeymoon so someday, when we do, I would like it to be in Bora Bora.

If you could solve one human problem in today’s world, what would it be?
I would try to end the political polarization that we see in our country today. It frustrates me that good people can’t see eye to eye on so many fundamental issues. And the issue is getting worse not better. I’d love to see better solutions to building unity in this challenging time.

If you were giving a dinner party and you could invite five people living or dead, who would they be?
I think my list would begin with Barack and Michelle Obama. I’d invite Kurt Vonnegut who is my favorite author and with whom it would be fun to chat.  I would also invite my friend Jenny who passed away when I was in high school—it would be great to see her again. And then I would include my husband because it wouldn’t be a dinner party without him.

What has helped you develop as a leader?
I think it is feedback—hearing from people when I’ve messed up and taking action to fix those things. It’s one of the reasons that I’m such a big advocate for listening. You don’t know what you’re doing wrong until somebody has the good sense to tell you.

Do  you have a favorite childhood memory?
My favorite memories are playing with my brother. He’s younger than me and we didn’t always get along, but we would play He-Man together—he with his action figure and me with my Barbie dolls.  It makes me happy when I think back because it was such a simpler time.

What was the first time that you—either made a mistake on the job, reached an important goal, suddenly realized what you wanted to be when you grew up, or were promoted?
I guess I’ll pick a time when I goofed up on the job— the first time I gave a professional talk which was when I was a freshman in college. It was during my first lab-meeting setting presentation— my first time I was talking in front of professors and other grad students and I was terrified. I couldn’t get a word out. Then, luckily, lunch arrived. There was this pause where everyone got pizza and I told the grad student I was working with that I couldn’t do it, that I couldn’t speak professionally. And he said, “It’s fine. Just try it.” After the pizza, I just tried, and I was able to overcome my nervousness. Nowadays I give talks to thousands of people as part of my teaching and happiness work. But it’s always humbling to remember that the first time I did it, it didn’t go so well.

What would you say to your 12-year-old self if you could talk with her today?
I think I would say to not sweat the small stuff. There’s so much that is stressful about middle school and life that I would remind her to have faith that it’s all going to work out.

Is there one aspect of your science of happiness research that resonates most deeply with you?
I joke that my “Psychology and the Good Life” undergraduate class is really a big self-help class for me. And if I had to pick one thing that has really changed how I go about seeking happiness, it would be trying to be more time affluent. Time affluence is the feeling that you have free time; it’s the opposite of time famine when you are totally strapped for time. If you’ve seen my email away message, you would know that I’m trying to get much better about giving myself a little bit more free time.