Dr Jennifer Lay
Lecturer
J.Lay@exeter.ac.uk
Washington Singer 217
Washington Singer Laboratories, University of Exeter, Perry Road, Prince of Wales Road, Exeter, EX4 4QG, UK
Overview
I am a Lecturer in the Department of Psychology at the University of Exeter. My research lies at the intersections of health / social / cultural psychology and adult lifespan development. I am broadly interested in how we navigate and make sense of our social and solitary lives, and how culture and development affect these processes. I take a methods-focused approach to research that centers participants’ lived experiences alongside ecological momentary assessments (EMA) and passive sensing using wearable devices (e.g. location tracking, stress biomarkers). I am passionate about modeling complex behavioural data and about teaching research methods and statistics.
Some of my current research topics:
- Experiences and functions of solitude (time to oneself) across the lifespan. For example, how can people derive benefits from solitude and loneliness? How do cultural norms shape solitude-seeking motivations?
- Accuracy of interoception and self-knowledge. For example, how do our self-concepts (beliefs about ourselves) bias our recall of past experiences? How might age-related changes in interoception affect health behaviours (e.g. responses to increasingly hot temperatures)?
- Participatory approaches and passive sensing tools for wellbeing. For example, how are geospatial patterns of helping behaviour linked with wellbeing in older adulthood? How can we use spoken & written language to detect neurocognitive disorders and loneliness?
After my PhD (Health Psychology; Quantitative Methods minor) at the University of British Columbia, Canada (Health and Adult Development Lab), I worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Chinese University of Hong Kong (Motivation and Emotion Lab) from 2018 to 2020. Before pursuing psychology full-time, I was a geomatics engineer (BSc, Schulich School of Engineering), and I continue to apply geospatial tools in my research.
Keywords: affective science, cultural psychology, ecological momentary assessments, lifespan development, quantitative methods, self-knowledge, solitude
Research group links
Publications
Journal articles
Choi Y, Lay J, Lu M, Jiang D, Peng M, Fung HH, Graf P, Hoppmann CA (2024). Age differences in the experience of everyday happiness: the role of thinking about the future. Psychol Aging, 39(1), 1-13. Abstract. Author URL.
Jiang D, Lay JC, Fung HH (2024). Older adults experience better affective well-being in solitude: the moderating role of goal for conflict de-escalation. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being Abstract.
Choi Y, Lay J, Lu M, Jiang D, Fung H, Graf P, Hoppmann C (2023). AGE-RELATED DIFFERENCES IN DAILY EXPERIENCES OF HAPPINESS: THE ROLE OF THINKING ABOUT THE FUTURE. Innovation in Aging, 7(Supplement_1), 555-555.
Pauly T, Nicol A, Lay JC, Ashe MC, Gerstorf D, Graf P, Linden W, Madden KM, Mahmood A, Murphy RA, et al (2023). Everyday Pain in Middle and Later Life: Associations with Daily and Momentary Present-Moment Awareness as One Key Facet of Mindfulness. CANADIAN JOURNAL ON AGING-REVUE CANADIENNE DU VIEILLISSEMENT, 42(4), 621-630. Author URL.
Lin Z, Chin DCW, Fung HH, Lay JC, Tse DCK (2023). Hot Instantaneous Temperature and Affect: Meaningful Activities as a Buffer for Older Adults with Low Socioeconomic Status. Innov Aging, 7(6). Abstract. Author URL.
Chu L, Gong X, Lay JC, Zhang F, Fung HH, Kwok T (2023). The perks of doing housework: Longitudinal associations with survival and underlying mechanisms. BMC GERIATRICS, 23(1). Author URL.
Tse DCK, Lay JC, Nakamura J (2022). Autonomy Matters: Experiential and Individual Differences in Chosen and Unchosen Solitary Activities from Three Experience Sampling Studies. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 13(5), 946-956. Abstract.
Archer Lee Y, Lay JC, Pauly T, Graf P, Hoppmann CA (2022). The differential roles of chronic and transient loneliness in daily prosocial behavior. Psychol Aging, 37(5), 614-625. Abstract. Author URL.
Hoppmann CA, Lay JC, Pauly T, Zambrano E (2021). Social Isolation, Loneliness, and Solitude in Older Adulthood. , 178-189.
Chu L, Lay JC, Tsang VHL, Fung HH (2020). Attitudes Toward Aging: a Glance Back at Research Developments over the Past 75 Years. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 75(6), 1125-1129. Abstract.
Choi Y, Lay J, Lu M, Fung H, Hoppmann C (2020). Emotional Complexity in Daily Life: on the Role of Emotional Dynamics, Age, & Culture. Innovation in Aging, 4(Suppl 1), 922-923.
Lee Y, Lay J, Mahmood A, Graf P, Hoppmann C (2020). Loneliness and Social Engagement: the Unique Roles of State and Trait Loneliness for Daily Prosocial Behaviors. Innovation in Aging, 4(Suppl 1), 627-627.
Lay JC, Pauly T, Graf P, Biesanz JC, Hoppmann CA (2019). By myself and liking it? Predictors of distinct types of solitude experiences in daily life. Journal of Personality, 87(3), 633-647. Abstract.
Jiang D, Fung HH, Lay JC, Ashe MC, Graf P, Hoppmann CA (2019). Everyday solitude, affective experiences, and well-being in old age: the role of culture versus immigration. Aging and Mental Health, 23(9), 1095-1104. Abstract.
Lay JC, Fung HH, Jiang D, Lau CH, Mahmood A, Graf P, Hoppmann CA (2019). Solitude in context: on the role of culture, immigration, and acculturation in the experience of time to oneself. International Journal of Psychology, 55(4), 562-571. Abstract.
Pauly T, Lay JC, Kozik P, Graf P, Mahmood A, Hoppmann CA (2019). Technology, Physical Activity, Loneliness, and Cognitive Functioning. in Old Age. GeroPsych, 32(3), 111-123. Abstract.
Lay JC, Pauly T, Graf P, Mahmood A, Hoppmann CA (2018). Choosing Solitude: Age Differences in Situational and Affective Correlates of Solitude-Seeking in Midlife and Older Adulthood. The Journals of Gerontology: Series B
Chi K, Lay J, Graf P, Mahmood A, Hoppmann C (2018). LINKS BETWEEN EVERYDAY INTERGENERATIONAL PROSOCIAL BEHAVIOUR AND EMOTIONAL WELL-BEING IN OLD AGE. Innovation in Aging, 2(suppl_1), 966-966.
Lay JC, Fung HH, Jiang D, Mahmood A, Graf P, Hoppmann CA (2018). SOLITUDE IN SOCIAL CONTEXT: ACCULTURATION, DESIRE, AND TIME IN SOLITUDE SHAPE SOLITUDE-LONELINESS LINKS. Innovation in Aging, 2(suppl_1), 760-760.
Pauly T, Lay JC, Scott SB, Hoppmann CA (2018). Social relationship quality buffers negative affective correlates of everyday solitude in an adult lifespan and an older adult sample. Psychology and Aging, 33(5), 728-738.
Pauly T, Lay JC, Nater U, Scott SB, Hoppmann CA (2017). AGE DIFFERENCES IN AFFECTIVE AND BIOLOGICAL CORRELATES OF MOMENTARY SOLITUDE. Innovation in Aging, 1(suppl_1), 846-846.
Mahmood AN, Lay JC, Petrozzi S, Hoppmann CA (2017). VOLUNTEERING AS PRO-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN OLDER ADULTS: A PHOTOVOICE EXPLORATION OF PARTICIPATION. Innovation in Aging, 1(suppl_1), 448-448.
Pauly T, Lay JC, Nater UM, Scott SB, Hoppmann CA (2016). How We Experience Being Alone: Age Differences in Affective and Biological Correlates of Momentary Solitude. Gerontology, 63(1), 55-66. Abstract.
Lay JC, Gerstorf D, Scott SB, Pauly T, Hoppmann CA (2016). Neuroticism and Extraversion Magnify Discrepancies Between Retrospective and Concurrent Affect Reports. Journal of Personality, 85(6), 817-829. Abstract.
Lay JC, Hoppmann CA (2015). Altruism and Prosocial Behavior. , 1-9.
Lay JC, Hoppmann CA (2014). Spousal neuroticism moderates everyday problem-wellbeing associations in older couples. Health Psychology, 33(8), 803-812.
Mitishita E, Habib A, Centeno J, Machado A, Lay J, Wong C (2008). Photogrammetric and lidar data integration using the centroid of a rectangular roof as a control point. The Photogrammetric Record, 23(121), 19-35. Abstract.
Chapters
Lay JC, Hoppmann CA (2017). Altruism and Prosocial Behavior. In (Ed) Encyclopedia of Geropsychology, Springer Nature, 249-256.
(2014). Intraindividual Variability in the Context of Adults’ Health Behavior CHRISTIANE A. HOPPMANN , JENNIFER C. LAY , AND SETAREH SHAYANFAR. In (Ed) Handbook of Intraindividual Variability Across the Life Span, Routledge, 236-248.
Hoppmann CA, Lay JC, Shayanfar S (2014). Intraindividual variability in the context of adults’ health behavior. In (Ed) Handbook of Intraindividual Variability Across the Life Span, 216-228. Abstract.
Conferences
Lay J, Ma R (2023). Helping where? Geospatial distributions of prosocial behaviour and associations with psychological wellbeing among community-dwelling older adults. Author URL.
Tse D, Fung H, Lay J, Gong X (2023). Landing on a Successful Aging Trajectory: a Multi-cultural, Multi-method Perspective. Author URL.
Chu L, Gong X, Lay J, Zhang F, Kwok T, Fung H (2021). THE PERKS OF DOING HOUSEWORK: ITS IMPACTS ON PHYSICAL HEALTH, MENTAL WELL-BEING, COGNITIVE PERFORMANCE, AND SURVIVAL. Author URL.
Lay JC (2016). ALONE AND LIKING IT? ANTECEDENTS AND CORRELATES OF POSITIVE SOLITUDE EXPERIENCES IN DAILY LIFE. Author URL.
Pauly T, Lay JC, Scott S, Hoppmann C (2016). SOCIAL TIES AS a SAFETY NET? HOW RELATIONSHIPS INFLUENCE AFFECTIVE EXPERIENCE DURING SOLITUDE. Author URL.
Mahmood A, Lay JC, Hoppmann C, Petrozzi S (2016). VOLUNTEERING AS PRO-SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR IN OLDER ADULTS: a PHOTOVOICE EXPLORATION OF PARTICIPATION. Author URL.
Lay JC, Hoppmann CA (2013). INDIVIDUAL AND SPOUSAL NEUROTICISM IN OLD AGE: LINKS WITH DAILY AFFECT QUALITY AND PHYSICAL SYMPTOMS. Author URL.
Habib A, Jarvis A, Al-Durgham MM, Lay J, Quackenbush P, Stensaas G, Moe D (2007). Canadian and U.S. Cooperation for the development of standards and specifications for emerging mapping technologies. Abstract.
Habib A, Lay J, Jarvis A, Griffiths S, Gugolj D (2007). Medium-format digital cameras: a study into their calibration, stability analysis, and integration with high resolution satellite imagery. Abstract.
Habib A, Quackenbush P, Lay J, Wong C, Al-Durgham M (2006). Calibration and stability analysis of medium-format digital cameras. SPIE Optics + Photonics.
