Research interests

My work examines emotion with a particular focus on the communication of emotions via non-verbal expressions. I study vocalisations like laughter, cries and sighs, and also facial expressions of emotions. I am interested in how factors such as preparedness, culture, and learning  shape our emotions and the ways that they are communicated. My research makes use of a wide range of psychological methods, including cross-cultural comparisons. I have a particular interest in positive emotions and distinctions between different positive affective states. You can find out more about my lab, the Amsterdam Interdisciplinary Centre for Emotion here. 

Biography

I did my BSc in Psychology and Cognitive Science at University College London (2002), followed by a PhD in the same department (2006). Then I worked as a post-doctoral researcher at the Institute of Psychiatry, King's College London, after which I received an ESRC fellowship, which I took up at Birkbeck College London. In 2008 I moved to the Netherlands to work as a staff researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Psycholinguistics, where I stayed until 2011. I then moved to the University of Amsterdam, where I held a Veni grant (2011-2016) from the Dutch Science Foundation. My current funding includes an ERC Starting Grant and several grants from the Dutch Science Foundation. In 2023, I was awarded a Vici grant from the Dutch Science Foundation. I am Associate Professor in the Department of Social Psychology at UvA and associate editor of the journal Emotion Review. I am active in Scientists for Future NL. 

Selected publications (see Publications section for full list)

• Sun R., Balabanova A., Bajada C.J., Liu Y., Kriuchok M., Voolma S-R., ... & Sauter D.A. (in press) Emotional experiences and psychological wellbeing in 51 countries during the COVID-19 pandemic. Emotion.
• Sauter, D. A., Crasborn, O., Engels, T. F. S., Kamiloglu, R. G., Sun, R., Eisner, F., & Haun, D. B. M. (2020). Human emotional vocalisations can develop in the absence of auditory learning. Emotion. 20(8), 1435-1445.
• Cowen, A., Sauter, D. A., Tracy, J., & Keltner, D. (2019). Mapping the passions: Toward a high-dimensional taxonomy of emotional experience and expression. Psychological Science in the Public Interest, 20, 69–90.
• Sauter, D., Eisner, F., Ekman, P., & Scott, S. K. (2010). Cross-cultural recognition of basic emotions through nonverbal emotional vocalizations. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 107(6), 2408-2412.  

I currently give courses at undergraduate and post-graduate level at the University of Amsterdam, including  Introduction to Emotion Science for undergraduate Psychology students, and at the Research Master level, Current Debates in Emotion Science. 

Supervision

I currently give courses at undergraduate and post-graduate level at the University of Amsterdam, including  Introduction to Emotion Science for undergraduate Psychology students, and at the Research Master level, Current Debates in Emotion Science. I currently supervise PhD students YongQi Cong, Nila Fadhila, Linli Zhou, Anna Sach, Lidya Yurdum, and Changyu Jing, postdocs Roza Kamilogu, Maien Sachisthal and Elisa Militaru, as well as MSc students from the Social Psychology and Research Master programs.