Faculty » Veronica Benet-Martínez

I am interested I the following questions: How do culture and ethnicity shape our identities and personalities? As people of varying cultures and ethnicities, how are we different and how are we alike? How do individuals who have internalized more than one culture develop a cohesive multicultural identity? How is culture (re)created and enacted in people's everyday activities?

I approach each of these questions with the hope of enhancing society's understanding of and appreciation for human variation across cultures, bringing awareness to the different ways in which culture and human psyche mutually constitute each other, and promoting the value of these ideas for a healthy and diverse society. Although my discipline is social-personality psychology, my perspective has been shaped by multiple and distinct intellectual traditions, including cultural psychology, ethnic studies, and anthropology.

My research program has three main lines of inquiry: (1) Biculturalism: Contextual and individual processes involved in the integration of two or more cultural identities; (2) Culture and personality: Identification and measurement of indigenous and universal personality constructs; and (3) Culture and social symbols: How cultural meaning is carried and institutionalized by everyday social tools (e.g., flags, advertisements).

Selected Publications

Benet-Martínez, V., & Oishi, S. (2008). Culture and personality. In O.P. John, R.W. Robins, & L.A. Pervin (Editors), Handbook of personality: Theory and research. New York, NY: Guilford Press.

Miramontez, D., Benet-Martínez, V., & Nguyen, A.N. (2008). Bicultural Identity Integration and self-group personality perceptions. Self and Identity, 7, 430-445.

Chen, S., Benet-Martínez, V., & Bond, M.H. (2008). Bicultural identity, bilingualism, and psychological adjustment in multicultural societies. Journal of Personality, 76, 803-838.

Nguyen, A.M, & Benet-Martínez, V. (2007). Biculturalism unpacked: Components, individual differences, measurement, and outcomes. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 1, 101-114.

Benet-Martínez, V. (2007). Cross-cultural personality research: Conceptual and methodological issues. In R.W. Robins, R.C. Fraley, & R. Krueger (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in personality psychology. New York, NY: Guildford Press.

Ozer, D., & Benet-Martínez, V. (2006). Personality and the prediction of consequential outcomes. Annual Review of Psychology, 57, 401-421.

Benet-Martínez, V., Lee, F., & Leu, J. (2006). Biculturalism and cognitive complexity: Expertise in cultural representations. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 37, 386-407.

Benet-Martínez, V., & Haritatos, J. (2005). Bicultural Identity Integration (BII): Components and socio-personality antecedents. Journal of Personality, 73, 1015-1049.

Benet-Martínez, V., Leu, J., Lee, F., & Morris, M. (2002). Negotiating biculturalism: Cultural frame-switching in biculturals with 'oppositional' vs. 'compatible' cultural identities. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology, 33, 492-516.

Aaker, J., Benet-Martínez, V., & Garolera, J. (2001). Consumption symbols as carriers of culture: A study of Japanese and Spanish brand personality constructs. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 81, 249-264.

Hong, Y., Morris, M., Chiu, C., & Benet-Martínez, V. (2000). Multicultural minds: A dynamic constructivist approach to culture and cognition. American Psychologist, 55, 709-720.

John, O.P. & Benet-Martínez, V. (2000). Measurement, scale construction, and reliability. In H.T. Reis and C.M. Judd (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in social and personality psychology. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

Benet-Martínez, V. & John, O.P. (1998). Los Cinco Grandes across cultures and ethnic groups: Multitrait method analyses of the Big Five in Spanish and English. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 729-750.

Benet-Martínez, V. & Waller, N. G. (1995). The 'Big Seven' model of personality description: Evidence for its cross-cultural generality in a Spanish sample. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 701-718.