Paul Hastings

Paul Hastings is a professor and chair of psychology. His research interests are centered on examinations of biological and environmental contributors to competent and maladaptive functioning and development. These contributors include predispositions, emotions, empathy and family. At his HERD Lab (Healthy Emotions, Relationships & Development), Hastings explores contributions of "nurture" through children's close relationships with family and friends, and "nature" through their autonomic and neuroendocrine regulatory systems. His focus is on understanding how these factors shape developmental trajectories toward adaptive functioning, like compassion and social competence, and maladaptive functioning, like aggression and anxiety.