Pamela Ebstyne King

As the Peter L. Benson Professor of Applied Developmental Science and the Executive Director of the Thrive Center for Human Development, Pamela Ebstyne King’s academic and applied efforts aim to promote a movement of human thriving that contributes to flourishing societies. Her primary psychological research lies at the intersection of thriving and spiritual development, with a particular focus on how faith, spirituality, religion, and virtue shape lives of purpose and love. Given the complexities in the world and increasing shifts in how people engage religion and spirituality, she is passionate about interdisciplinary perspectives of spiritual health and offering science-backed and theologically grounded insights and practices to nurture thriving.

King has led the development of an empirical field of research on religious and spiritual development within developmental psychology, offering a scientific perspective on spiritual formation. Her work on the telos of the reciprocating self provides an interdisciplinary framework for understanding human flourishing through concepts such as purpose, vocation, virtue, and joy. Combining theology, psychology, and community engagement, she studies the contexts and practices that help people thrive for the greater good.

In addition to her research, teaching, and mentoring, King leads the With & For podcast, where she brings together voices from psychology, spirituality, and culture to understand healthy spirituality and how people live whole, meaningful lives. Through the Thrive Center, she advances public engagement via speaking, writing, and accessible scholarship that bridge cutting-edge research with practical tools for individuals, families, and communities to thrive.

King is coauthor of The Reciprocating Self: Human Development in Theological Perspective and Thriving with Stone Age Minds: Evolutionary Psychology, Christian Theology, and Human Flourishing; coeditor of The Handbook of Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence; and coauthor of the inaugural chapter on religious and spiritual development in the Handbook of Child Psychology and Developmental Science (7th ed.). Her research has been supported by the John Templeton Foundation, BioLogos Foundation, and Tyndale House.

In addition to her studies at Fuller, King completed her undergraduate studies at Stanford University and a postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford’s Center on Adolescence; she was a visiting scholar under the divinity faculty at Cambridge University. Ordained in the Presbyterian Church (USA), she has led high school and college ministries and regularly speaks, preaches, and consults for various community organizations and churches. She serves on the Advisory Board of the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. She lives in Pasadena with her husband, Brad, and their three children.

Download King’s CV, which includes a list of her current publications, here.