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Erin Westgate

Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of Florida

Co-author of the psychological richness paper and leading researcher on boredom, interest and why some experiences engage us — the science behind the Richness dimension.

Citation, not endorsement

The researchers named on this page are independent scientists with no connection to The Three Lives. They did not create, advise on, review or endorse this test, and they are not affiliated with it in any way. We cite their published, peer-reviewed work and link to every paper so you can read the source yourself. Where the evidence is thin, we say so, in the sentence that uses it.

The published work

Erin Westgate earned her PhD at the University of Virginia, working with Timothy Wilson, and now leads the Florida Mind Lab at the University of Florida.

Her research explains why experiences feel boring or engaging. Her MAC model argues that boredom arises when an activity lacks meaning or when attention does not fit the task — too hard or too easy.

That understanding of attention and interest fed directly into her work with Shigehiro Oishi on the psychologically rich life, where interesting and perspective-changing experiences are the building blocks.

How The Three Lives uses this work

The Richness dimension and the perspective-changing experiences section.

Relevant papers