Kenneth Vail
Cleveland State University
Kenneth Vail is a psychological scientist and professor at Cleveland State University, and director of the Social Psychology & Existential Attitudes Research (SPEAR) Laboratory. He completed his BA in psychology at University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and his MA and PhD at the University of Missouri. Dr. Vail’s research is focused on existential psychology, including the consequences of humans’ awareness of their own mortality, autonomy, and choice freedom, and the influence of these existential concerns on cultural activity (e.g., politics, religion), personal growth, and both physical health (e.g., nutrition, carcinogenic behavior) and mental health (e.g., PTSD). Dr. Vail won the APS Rising Star Award (Association for Psychological Science), and has earned various other awards (e.g., Outstanding Research; Golden Apple Award; Outstanding Teaching; Merit Awards) for his research, teaching, mentoring, and service across a variety of domains in psychological science.
Dr. Vail is also a founder and President of the International Society for the Science of Existential Psychology, and co- organizer of the annual Existential Psychology SPSP conference. He’s published a research handbook titled, The Science of Religion, Spirituality, and Existentialism; he’s co- edited special issues on existential psychology research in peer-reviewed journals such as Religion, Brain, & Behavior (2018) and Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology (2020); he writes pop-science articles about existential psychology research for Medium and for Tree of Life at Psychology Today; and he’s published dozens of peer-reviewed research articles and scholarly works. Some of his research findings have been featured in national and international news outlets including The Atlantic, Pacific Standard, Live Science, TEDx, Telegraph UK, and the Times of India, and he has contributed to notable volumes such as: Science and the World’s Religions; The Psychology of Meaning; The Experience of Meaning in Life; Advances in Motivation Science; and the Handbook of Terror Management Theory and Research.