CV

Steven Mesquiti, M.A.

Department of Psychology
Princeton University
sm9518@princeton.edu

Education

Princeton University (2024-Present)
Ph.D. in Psychology
Advisor: Dr. Erik Nook

Texas State University (2019-2022)
M.A. in Psychological Research
Advisor: Dr. Randall Osborne

Southwestern University (2015-2019)
B.A. in Psychology (Minor: Spanish)

Publications

* Denotes Shared First Authorship

Mesquiti, S., Cosme, D., Nook, E.C., Falk E.B., Burns S. (Under Revision). Predicting Psychological and Subjective Well-being through Language-based Assessments of Well-being.

Mesquiti, S.,* Seraj, S.,* Weyland, A. H., Ashokkumar, A., Boyd, R. L., Mihalcea, R., & Pennebaker, J. W. (2025). Analysis of social media language reveals the psychological interaction of three successive upheavals. Scientific Reports, 15(1), 5740. DOI.

Kang, Y., Mesquiti, S., Baik, E.S., & Falk, E. B. (2024). Empathy and Helping: The Role of Affect in Response to Others’ Suffering. Scientific Reports, 15, 3256 DOI.

Mesquiti, S., Seraj, S. (2023). The Psychological Impacts of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Business Leadership. PLOS One. DOI

Works in Progress

  • Kang, Y., Mesquiti, S. & Falk, E. B. (in prep). The Effect of Compassion Training on Emotional Support Giving.
  • Mesquiti, S. & Nook, E.C. (in prep.) The Implication of Artificial Intelligence on Mental Health.
  • Mesquiti, S., Stade E. C., Hull, T.D., Nook, E. C. (in prep.) Tracking Shifts in the Latent Meaning of “I” and Its Connection to Mental Health Outcomes in a Large Therapy Dataset.

Funding

  • 2025: Princeton University Data Driven Social Science: Data-Driven Approaches to Building Equitable Language-Based Mental Health Assessments (PI: Erik C. Nook; $4,283)
  • 2025: New Jersey Health Foundation: Investigating Racial Equity of Psycholinguistic Measures of Mental Health (PI: Erik C. Nook; $34,867; # PC 42-25)
  • 2022: Northwestern University Kellogg School of Management Behavioral Research Fellowship (Finalist [Declined]; $35,000)
  • 2020: Texas State University Thesis Research Support Fellowship ($1,070)

Honors & Awards

  • 2024-25: Princeton University William G. Bowen Merit Fellowship
  • 2020-21: Texas State University Graduate College of Liberal Arts Scholarship
  • 2021: Masters in Psychological Research Graduate Competitive Scholarship
  • 2019: Texas State University Graduate College of Education Scholarship
  • 2015: Southwestern University Mood Scholar

Invited Talks

  • 2025: Tracking Shifts in the Latent Meaning of “I” and Its Connection to Mental Health Outcomes in a Large Therapy Dataset. Social Psychology Seminar, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ.
  • 2022: Within-and between-person effects of autonomous motivation on goal pursuit. Duckworth Lab, Princeton University.
  • 2021: The whole truth and nothing but the truth: an analysis of the variability of prosocial lying in the Netherlands and the United States. Texas State University Psychology Department Brown Bag.
  • 2021: The truth about prosocial lying: Cross-cultural differences in prosocial lying. Southwestern Psychological Association (Virtual).

Conference Presentations

* Denotes Undergraduate Mentored

  • Mesquiti, S. C., Nook, E. (2024, March). Investigating Racial Sensitivity in Language-Based Assessments of Mental Health. Poster presented at the annual meeting for the Society for Affective Science.
  • Mesquiti, S. C., Cosme, D., Nook, E., Falk E., Burns S. (2025, February). Predicting Well-being with Language-based Assessments. Poster presented at the annual meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
  • Mesquiti, S. C., Burns S., Cosme, D., Falk E. (2024, February). Enhancing Psychological Well-being Prediction Through Natural Language Analysis. Poster presented at the annual meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
  • Mesquiti, S. C., Mobasser, A., Falk, E., Pfeifer, J. H., & Cosme, D (2023, February). Within-and between-person effects of autonomous motivation on goal pursuit. Poster submitted to the annual meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
  • Spehar, A.,* Muzekari, B., Butler, T. B., Mesquiti, S.C., Cosme, D., Falk, E. (2022, August). Relating Collective and Self-Focus Language in Social Support with Self-Reported Depression. Poster presented at the annual University of Pennsylvania MindCORE student show case. Philadelphia, Pa. Github
  • Andrews, M. E., Cooper, N., Paul, A., Johnson, D., Muzekari, B., Mesquiti, S.C., Torres, O., Resnick, A., Scholz, C., Mattan, B., Barnet, I., Henriksen, L., Strasser, A., & Falk, E. B. (2023, May). Compounding effect of microaggressions and exposure to tobacco advertising on stress and smoking. Annual conference of the International Communication Association, Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
  • Santana, C.,* Mesquiti, S.C., Carreras-Tartak, J., Kang, Y., Falk, E. (2022, August). Relating Collective and Self-Focus Language in Social Support with Self-Reported Depression. Poster presented at the annual University of Pennsylvania MindCORE student show case. Philadelphia, Pa.
  • Woolfolk, Z*., Cosme, D., Butler, T., Carreras-Tartak, J., Mesquiti, S.C., Kang, Y., Falk, E. (2022, August). Racial Homophily in Emotion Sharing Network. Poster presented at the annual University of Pennsylvania MindCORE student show case. Philadelphia, Pa.
  • Mesquiti, S.C. (2022, April). Exploring Cognitive Language of CEOs during the COVID-19 Pandemic Over Time and its Connection to Decision Processing. Poster presented at the annual Texas State University Psychology Department Showcase. San Marcos, Tx.
  • Mesquiti, S.C., Tsai, J. L., Marion, J., Olivarez, O., Blackburn, K., Durland, M. (2022, February). The linguistic lifespan of a CEO: Exploring the way cognitive language unfolds over time and its connection to decision processing. Poster presented at the annual meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology.
  • Haskard-Zolnierek, K., Mesquiti, S.C., & Snyder, M. (2022, February). Associations between patient satisfaction and physician and nurse word use. Poster presented at the annual meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (virtual).
  • Mesquiti, S.C., Kok, R., Clegg, J. M., Warnell, K. R. (2021, April). The truth behind prosocial lies: A linguistic analysis of lying to be polite. Poster presented at the annual Texas State University Psychology Department Showcase. San Marcos, Tx.
  • Mesquiti, S.C., Domer, K., Warnell, K. R., Clegg, J. M. (2021, February). More than a disappointing gift: Examining variability in when and how we prosocially lie. Poster presented at the annual meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (virtual).
  • Domer, K., Mesquiti, S.C., Warnell, K. R., Clegg, J. M. (2021, February). More than a social norm: Examining who we lie to and what we lie about. Poster presented at the annual meeting for the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (virtual).
  • Mesquiti, S.C. (2019, April). Internship at the Central Texas Treatment Center. Poster presented at Southwestern University Creative Works Symposium, Georgetown, Tx.

Mentorship

  • Emily Yun | Thesis Student | Princeton University (2024-Present)

  • Arden Spehar | Summer MindCORE REU Student | University of Pennsylvania (2022)

  • Carlos Santana | Summer MindCORE REU Student | University of Pennsylvania (2022)

References

  • Emily Falk
    Professor of Communication, Psychology, Marketing, and OID (Operations, Informatics, and Decisions), Vice Dean of the Annenberg School for Communication, University of Pennsylvania
    efalk@falklab.org

  • James Pennebaker
    Professor Emeritus of Psychology, The University of Texas at Austin
    pennebaker@utexas.edu

  • Erik Nook
    Assistant Professor of Psychology, Princeton University
    enook@princeton.edu