Lynn E. O’Connor, Ph.D.

Lynn E. O’Connor, Ph.D., is a clinical psychologist, Professor at the Wright Institute, Berkeley CA, and Director of the Emotion, Personality, and Altruism Research Group. Holding a Ph.D. in clinical psychology, she works as an educator, researcher, clinician, and consultant. Her principle areas of research are altruism, empathy-based guilt, and psychopathology, including depression, anxiety disorders and addiction, all approached from an evolutionary perspective. She is also currently studying post-traumatic stress disorder, guilt across cultures, and the effect of meditation as practiced by Buddhists in emotion regulation. In 2001 Lynn received the Raymond D. Fowler, Ph.D. Award, The American Psychological Association of Graduate Students, for her role in mentoring graduate students. She is a member of the Association for Psychological Science, the American Psychological Association and the Human Behavior and Evolution Society. She has authored numerous journal articles about her research, and several chapters in academic books, discussing empathy and depression, the role of guilt in psychopathology, compassion and forgiveness, and pathological altruism.