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 a 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) and the American Psychological Association (Otto Klineberg Intercultural and International Relations Award).
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
- Weston S, Condon D, Rentfrow J & Benet-Martinez V 2024, "The person-environment fit of immigrants to the United States: A registered report" Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Vol. 126-5 - 873 - 894.
- Ebert T, Götz FM, Benet-Martínez V & Rentfrow PJ 2024, 'Introduction to the special issue on regional cultural differences and their consequences', Current research in ecological and social psychology, 7 -100204.
- Paderi F, Manzi C & Benet-Martinez V 2024, "Multiple social identities and wellbeing: Insights from a person-centered approach", British Journal of Social Psychology, Vol 63 - 2 - pp 792-810.
Selected research activities
Awards:
*Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP): Wegner Theoretical Innovation Prize (with Lu & Wang)
Selected Keynotes and Invited Talks:
*Benet-Martínez, V. (2024, December). Multi-cultural selves, multicultural minds: Cultural, social, and personality processes. Keynote address, Dutch Social Psychology Association (ASPO) annual congress, Groningen, NL.
*Gotz, F., & Benet-Martínez, V. (2024, August). Personality science around the world. Presidential plenary (Friedrich Gotz & Veronica Benet-Martinez, Chairs) at the 21st European Conference on Personality (ECP), Berlin, Germany.
*Pizarro, J. J., Benet-Martinez, V,, & Igartua, J. J., & (2024, February). Exploring the impact of narrative framing on intergroup attitudes and prosocial behavior through immigrants’ testimonial narratives. Paper presented at the H2020 funded BRIDGES Final Conference “Discussing migration narratives’ policy and societal implications” (Blanca Garcés-Mascareñas & Ferruccio Pastore , Chairs), Brussels, Belgium.