David Melnikoff
Assistant Professor of Organizational Behavior
Fletcher Jones Faculty Scholar for 2024–2025
Academic Area:
Bio
Professor Melnikoff holds a bachelor’s degree in psychology from Drexel University and a PhD in psychology from Yale University. After earning his doctorate, he completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Northeastern University. His work has been published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, Nature Human Behaviour, Nature Communications, and Trends in Cognitive Sciences.
Research Interests
- Flow
- Motivation
- Goal Pursuit
- Computational Modeling
Academic Degrees
- PhD in Psychology, Yale University, 2019
- BA in Psychology, Drexel University, 2010
Awards and Honors
- Individual National Research Service Awards (NRSA), National Institute of Health, 2021
- Dissertation Award, Society of Experimental Social Psychology, 2020
- James B. Grossman Dissertation Prize, Yale University, 2019
Research Statement
David Melnikoff investigates how people pursue and achieve their goals. His primary focus is the phenomenon of flow, where goal pursuit feels deeply immersive and effortlessly engaging, resulting in optimal performance and well-being. David’s approach is multidisciplinary. Using tools from psychology, machine learning, and artificial intelligence, he develops mathematical models that illuminate the inner workings of flow and reveal actionable strategies for optimizing flow in daily life.