Before joining ICREA and Pompeu Fabra U., I held professorships at the U. of California Riverside and the U. of Michigan. I obtained a PhD in Psychology from the U. of California Davis and was a funded Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the U. of California Berkeley. I am past-President of the European Association of Personality Psychology (EAPP), an appointed Fellow of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), was an Associate Editor for the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology (2009-2015), and I am an Editorial Board Member for several top-tier scientific journals in social-personality and cultural psychology. My research has been funded by government and private grants from the US, Catalonia, and the EU. I have received awards from SPSP (Outstanding Mid-Career Contributions in Personality Psychology; Inducted into The Heritage Wall of Fame).
Research interests
Using observational and experimental research designs and different types of data (survey, behavioral, social network) I examine the following issues: ACCULTURATION/MULTICULTURALISM: Dynamics and socio-cognitive correlates of managing two or more cultural affiliations and identities; Individual differences in bicultural identity structure; Biculturalism and social-networks; Consequences of biculturalism (social, cognitive, and adjustment-related). CULTURE AND PERSONALITY/SELF-CONCEPT: Identification and measurement of culture-specific and -general personality constructs; Interplay of cultural values and personality in predicting well-being; Bilingualism and self-schemas. CROSS-CULTURAL RESEARCH METHODS: Cultural/linguistic issues in the development and adaptation of psychological scales and tests; Combined emic-etic methodology.
Selected publications
- Choi H, Gelfand M J, Hong Y, Oishi S, Rentfrow J, Saucier G & Benet-Martinez V 2025, 'Culture & personality: Five expert visions', Personality Science, 6.
- Pizarro, JJ, Igartua JJ & Benet-Martínez V 2025, 'Testimonial immigration narratives' effects on identification, emotions and cognitions among different types of recipients', Journal of ethnic and migration studies. Vol. 51. Issue 16. Pages 4225-4249
- Sternberg B, Bianchi D, De Luca L, Mbeve L & Benet-Martínez V 2025,Navigating religious and sexual identities: the dual role of in-group identifications and social support in the face of rejection and discrimination, Self and identity, 25(2), 217–237.
- Robins RW, Lawson KM & Benet-Martínez V 2025, 'Personality', In D. Gilbert, S. Fiske, E. Finkel, and W. Mendes (Eds), Handbook of Social Psychology (6th Ed.). Situational Press.
Selected research activities
*Keynotes and invited talks: ESADE business school, Barcelona, Spain; Centro de Investigacion Mente, Cerebro y Comportamiento (CIMCYC), University of Granada, Spain; University of Amsterdam, NL.
*Conference presentations: Society of Experimental Social Psychology (SESP), Lisbon, Portugal; Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Denver, US.