Education
Ph.D. in Psychological & Brain Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis
M.A. in Psychological & Brain Sciences at Washington University in St. Louis
B.A. in Psychology (Honors) and Hispanic Studies at Pepperdine University
Research Interest
My research meets at the intersection of aging, well-being, and health. Within these broad themes, a major focus of my work is on the construct sense of purpose (i.e., the extent to which individuals feel that they personally meaningful goals and direction guiding them through life).
In particular, some of my main interests are:
• how to best measure sense of purpose in the short- and long-term
• the implications of purpose for lifespan development and cognitive aging, health, and well-being outcomes
• what co-occurs and predicts how purpose fluctuates in individuals' daily lives
Research Projects
The Reciprocal Relationships between Sense of Purpose, Loneliness, and Cognitive Aging
Using annual evaluations and reports from older adults collected by the Rush Alzheimer’s Disease Center, this project evaluates how changes in sense of purpose and loneliness have implications for cognitive decline in white and Black Americans from the broader Chicago area, as well as whether decline in cognitive functioning predicts decreases in sense of purpose and increases in loneliness.
The Structure of Well-being Components and the Big Five Personality Domains
This project is in the early stages of data collection and is an accepted Stage 1 Registered Report at JPSP; in this project, I will use ecological momentary assessment and group iterative multiple model estimation to evaluate how variable between-people the within-person associations between different well-being and personality states are in the concurrently and lagged.
Lifespan Developmental Trajectories of Negative and Positive Affect
This project is a coordinated data analysis of 14 different longitudinal studies (ranging in 3-15 waves of data collection) out of the United States, Europe, and Australia that evaluates how frequencies in negative and positive emotions change as people age.
The People and Activities tied to Purpose in Daily Life
Using ecological momentary assessment data, this project evaluates the who (e.g., romantic partner, coworker; pleasurable interactions; face-to-face versus virtual interactions) and what (e.g., working, physical activity, volunteering) behind fluctuations in state-level sense of purpose in young versus cognitively diverse older adults.
Purpose, Activities, and Fluctuations in Short-term Cognitive Functioning
In the upcoming year or two, I will be collecting ecological momentary assessment data from local communities to investigate how changes in sense of purpose, physical activities, and social interactions (presence, type, quality) are associated with person-centered changes in state-level cognitive functioning.
Accomplishments
2023 Emerging Scholar Award, Association for Research in Personality.
2022 Dean’s Award for Teaching Excellence, School of Arts & Sciences, Washington University in St. Louis.
2021 Distinguished Leadership – Doctoral Program Award, Liberman Center, Washington University in St. Louis.
2020 Early Graduate Student Researcher Award, American Psychological Association.
Selected Publications
Pfund, G. N., Springstein, T., & Willroth, E. C. (Stage 1 Registered Report, in principle acceptance). Associations among Well-being Components and Big Five Personality Domains: Nomothetic and Idiographic Perspectives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: Personality Processes and Individual Differences.
https://doi.org/10.31219/osf.io/pgv27
Pfund, G. N., Burrow, A. L., & Hill, P. L. (2024). Purpose in Daily Life: Considering Daily Within-Person Sense of Purpose Variability. Journal of Research in Personality, 109, 104473.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2024.104473
Pfund, G. N., Olaru, G., Allemand, M., & Hill, P. L. (2024). Purposeful and purposeless aging: Structural issues for sense of purpose and their implications for predicting life outcomes. Developmental Psychology, 60(1), 75-93.
https://doi.org/10.1037/dev0001633
Pfund, G. N. (2023). Applying an Allportian trait perspective to sense of purpose. Journal of Happiness Studies, 24, 1625-1642.
https://doi.org/10.1007/s10902-023-00644-4
Pfund, G. N., Hofer, M., Allemand, M., & Hill, P. L. (2022). Being social may be purposeful in older adulthood: A measurement burst design. American Journal of Geriatric Psychiatry, 30(7), 777-786.
https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jagp.2021.11.009
