Yoonseok (he/him) is a PhD candidate in Psychology under the supervision of Dr. Christiane Hoppmann. His research focuses on the intersection of aging and culture, specifically examining motivational mechanisms that influence everyday behaviors related to health and well-being. He investigates how motivational phenomena—typically considered fundamental and culturally universal, such as approach and avoidance motivations—differ in meaning and function across different cultural contexts and life stages. Through this work, Yoonseok aims to integrate often-overlooked sociocultural contexts into psychological theories.

During his PhD, Yoonseok has specialized in using repeated daily life assessment methods (e.g., daily diary, ecological momentary assessment) and advanced statistical approaches (e.g., multilevel modeling) to explore both intra-individual and inter-individual differences in psychological processes. These assessments occur in participants’ everyday environments, offering high ecological validity for the phenomena studied. His additional research interests include exploring emotion dynamics through repeated measurements (e.g., emotion variability), daily activities (e.g., solitude), and daily goal pursuit.

Motivation and Goal Pursuit; Emotion; Solitude; Aging; Culture

Zambrano Garza, E., Pauly, T., Choi, Y., Murphy, R.A., Linden, W., Ashe, M.C., Madden, K.M., Jakobi, J.M., Gerstorf, D., Hoppmann, C.A. (Accepted). Everyday Social Support for Health Behaviors in Older Adults During Times of Challenge: Evidence from Daily Life Assessments. Canadian Journal on Aging / La Revue canadienne du vieillissement.

Ramachandran, A., Chignell, S., Choi, Y., & Vertinsky, P. (2024). Using a Mixed-Methods Approach to Examine the Expanding Reach of Body Classification into the Twenty-First Century. Journal of Sport History, 51(1), 1–31. https://doi.org/10.5406/21558450.51.1.01

Choi, Y., Lay, J., Lu, M., Jiang, D., Peng, M., Fung, H. H., Graf, P., & Hoppmann, C. A. (2024). Age differences in the experience of everyday happiness: The role of thinking about the future. Psychology and Aging, 39(1), 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1037/pag0000782

Zambrano Garza, E., Pauly, T., Choi, Y., Murphy, R. A., Linden, W., Ashe, M. C., Madden, K. M., Jakobi, J. M., Gerstorf, D., & Hoppmann, C. A. (2024). Daily solitude and well-being associations in older dyads: Evidence from daily life assessments. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 16(1), 356–375. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12494

Broen, T., Choi, Y., Zambrano Garza, E., Pauly, T., Gerstorf, D., & Hoppmann, C. A. (2023). Time-varying associations between loneliness and physical activity: Evidence from repeated daily life assessments in an adult lifespan sample. Frontiers in Psychology, 13. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2022.1021863

Choi, Y., Pauly, T., Zambrano Garza, E., Broen, T., Gerstorf, D., & Hoppmann, C. A. (2023). Having time to oneself in times of extended togetherness: Solitude experiences during the COVID-19 pandemic. Applied Psychology: Health and Well-Being, 15(1), 217–237. https://doi.org/10.1111/aphw.12401

Zambrano Garza, E., Pauly, T., Choi, Y., Broen, T., Gerstorf, D., & Hoppmann, C. A. (2023). Time-varying daily gratitude-affect links across the adult lifespan. GeroPsych: The Journal of Gerontopsychology and Geriatric Psychiatry, 36(2), 63–74. https://doi.org/10.1024/1662-9647/a000304

Hong, S., Suk, H. W., Choi, Y., & Na, J. (2021). Face-Based Judgments: Accuracy, Validity, and a Potential Underlying Mechanism. Psychological Science, 32(9), 1452–1462. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976211000308

• Delroy L. Paulhus Scholarship in Psychology, UBC Psychology (2024)
• UBC Psychology Quinn Exchange Fellowship, UBC Psychology (2023)
• UBC Dean of Arts Graduate Student Research Award, UBC Faculty of Arts (2023)
• UBC Excellence in Health Psychology Research Award, UBC Psychology (2023)
• UBC Four Year Doctoral Fellowships & Tuition Award, UBC (2021-2025)
• R Howard Webster Foundation Fellowship, Green College (2020)
• UBC Faculty of Arts Graduate Award, UBC (2020)