International Handbook of Love Transcultural and Transdisciplinary Perspectives

Claude-Hélène Mayer
 is a Professor in Industrial and Organisational Psychology at the Department of Industrial Psychology and People Management at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa. She is a Semester at Sea Alumni (SASFA22) and a Board member of the International Academy of Intercultural Research (IAIR). Claude is a Senior Editor for the Europe`s Journal of Psychology (EJOP), an Associate Editor for Frontiers in Psychology (Positive Psychology) and for the International Journal of Cross-Cultural Management (IJCCM). She holds Doctoral degrees in Psychology, Management and Cultural Anthropology. Her 
Venia Legendi 
is in Psychology with focus on Work, Organisational and Cultural Psychology (Europa Universität Viadrina, Frankfurt/Oder), Germany).

Claude`s research areas include transcultural mental health, salutogenesis, transcultural conflict management and mediation, women in leadership, emotions across cultures, The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), and psychobiography. 

She is the winner of the William B. Gudykunst Book Award 2023 together with Elisabeth Vanderheiden for her „International Handbook of Love” (Springer). She has further won two Nautilus Silver Book Awards with special honours for academic rigor for the co-edited book “Women Empowerment for a Sustainable Future” and for her authored book “Unwrapping transcultural romantic love relationships” (both Springer publications). 

In 2025, Claude is ranked by Scopus Discovery as the top 1 researcher in the world for psychoiography. Her work reaches from psychobiographies on Paulo Coelho, Angela Merkel, Graçia Machel, Elizabeth Schuyler Hamilton and Viktor Frankl to Elon R. Musk. She has steered non-WEIRD discourses into psychobiography, contributed to expand psychobiographies on women, and lead positive psychology discussions in psychobiography. She is a co-founder of the Psychobiography Forum together with Professor Paul Elovitz and Dr.

Claude is a trained psychologist, systemic family therapist, hypnotherapist, constellation facilitator and intercultural mediator. Since 2005, she advices international companies and excutives in international leadership, intercultural communication and conflict management in organisations. 

Elisabeth Vanderheiden
is a pedagogue, adult educator and researcher. She currently serves as the CEO of the Global Institute for Transcultural Research, an organisation dedicated to interdisciplinary research in culture, positive psychology, education, and societal matters. In addition, she is the CEO of the NeuroTech Centre for Advanced Research, where she explores intersections between neuroscience, ethics, and innovation. Vanderheiden also holds the title of President of Catholic Adult Education in Germany and is the Managing Director of a Catholic adult education organisation in Rhineland-Palatinate. She is the editor of 
ERWACHSENENBILDUNG
, the largest German-language professional journal for adult education.

She has published numerous scientific books and articles. Her research interests range from shame as a resource, conflict, and love to andragogical research questions. She focuses particularly on cultural and transformative issues in the context of andragogy and positive psychology. Her work has received numerous awards, including the William B. Gudykunst Outstanding Book Award (together with Claude-Hélène Mayer) from the International Academy for Intercultural Research in July 2023  for the International Handbook of Love: Transcultural and Transdisciplinary Perspectives. Moreover, her book Empowerment for a Sustainable Future: Transcultural and Positive Psychology Perspectives (2024) received the Nautilus Award, Winner 2024, Special Honors: Academic Rigor.