Verònica Benet-Martínez
Verònica was born and raised up in Barcelona, in a bilingual home where she and her siblings spoke Catalan to their father and Spanish to her mother, a very common situation in bilingual Catalonia. These experiences seemed quite natural to Verónica while growing up and yet they quickly led to questions that later would define key aspects of her research career: Why is it that one can feel like having different identities and personalities when switching languages? Are the differences in behavior and thinking she observed in her parents due to their different personalities (father: temperate and idealistic; mother: hot-tempered and pragmatic) or rather caused by their different cultural backgrounds (father: Catalan; mother: Navarrese)? Can these personality and cultural influences in individual variation even be teased apart?
A philosophy class in high school that covered in equal parts behaviorism and psychoanalysis convinced her that a career in psychology is what she wanted. Verònica obtained her B.A. in psychology from Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona and almost considered a specialization in biological psychology (the olfactory system still fascinates her), but what interested her the most was the study of individual differences. Motivated by the lack of opportunities for training in personality, her strong wanderlust, and some colorful academic brochures she saw, she opted for a PhD in the United States as her next adventure. To prepare herself for this challenge, and in the absence of financial resources, she first worked as an au pair for a family in Davis while also learning English and attending several courses taught by UC Davis psychology faculty. Verónica chose to stay in Davis for her PhD, where the combined social-personality program provided the perfect fit for her interest in both personality and social influences. At UC Davis she had the privilege of learning from luminaries such as Niels Waller, Phil Shaver, Dean Simonton and Bob Emmons. None of these researchers were doing (cross) cultural personality work and yet they all provided precious intellectual support and encouragement for her dissertation, which tested indigenous and imported personality constructs in Spanish-speaking samples. Verónica earned her PhD in 1995, and subsequently completed a postdoctoral position at UC Berkeley's Institute for Personality and Social Research (IPSR). During this time, Verónica published several seminal papers on Los (Siete) Cinco Grandes which also brought attention to the advantages of relying on combined emic-etic approaches and bilingual samples when examining personality across cultures. Through productive conversations with Oliver John and Michael Morris while at IPSR, something become quite clear to Verónica: the study of bilingual and multicultural individuals was missing in social and personality psychology. From then on she would devote a significant part of her career to pursuing a wide range of questions related to how multicultural and multilingual individuals manage their multiple cultural belongings, and the role played by personality, social, and acculturative factors in these experiences.
Verónica's career then took her to the University of Michigan for five years as an assistant professor, where exposure to cultural psychologists such as Richard Nisbett and others brought a welcome socio-cognitive lens to her work, and also spurred a commitment to bringing a personality perspective to cultural psychology. It all finally came together when she joined the psychology faculty at UC Riverside. A perfect (good) storm of factors helped Verónica establish her research program even further: the brilliance and collegiality she found there with social-personality psychologists such a David Funder, Dan Ozer, Sonja Lyborminsky, and Howard Freedman (among others), the unmatchable ethno-cultural diversity of UC Riverside students who provided her with ample opportunities for testing her work in the lab and in the classroom, and her collaborations with PhD mentees such as Quelam Huynh and Angela Nguyen.
Although Verónica visited Spain every summer during her 21 years living and working in the U.S., she never truly planned a permanent return to her native country. But when a very attractive offer came her way to join Universitat Pompeu Fabra in Barcelona, she called her mom and asked for advice. She told her she shouldn't take it because a return to her "home" would dampen her sense of adventure and wanderlust. She took the job anyway, and now wanders and has adventures coming to the U.S. regularly for research stays, conferences, and to visit friends. Verónica has now two cultural homes, two passports, and an international network of collaborators and friends that Phileas Fogg might wish for himself.
Since 2010, Verónica has been an ICREA Professor of Psychology at Universitat Pompeu Fabra. Across her prolific career which spans almost three decades, Verónica has made groundbreaking theoretical and empirical contributions to the study of cultural and personality processes. Her work has moved the field beyond traditional boundaries by showing that (1) cultural factors play a key role in how personality differences are organized and expressed and (2) personality factors play a key role in how individuals manage and adapt to intercultural processes. Through her research on biculturalism, she has shown that sociological and popular press accounts of multiculturalism portraying bicultural individuals as "marginal" or, at best, "stuck between two worlds" are inaccurate. Her studies have elucidated when, how, and for whom multicultural experiences can bring about psychological and behavioral gains. Through these contributions, Verónica has put personality (and social) psychology at the center of critically important debates about the impact of multiculturalism and globalization, debates that had been dominated by other disciplines. Her research is broad and integrative, relying on multiple methods (experimental, correlational, longitudinal), multiple sources of data (self-report, behavioral, social networks), and diverse samples from a wide range of cultures and ethnicities.
Verónica's international visibility in the fields of social-personality and (cross)cultural psychology and the impact of her scientific contributions are evident from the various academic accolades that she has received, her impressive publication metrics, and her grant success. Her scholarly work has received awards from SPSP (2019 Carol and Ed Diener Award in Personality Psychology), APA (2015, div. 42), SPSSI (2001, Otto Klineberg award), and ARP (2007, best paper). In addition to her scientific accomplishments, Verónica has been a visible and dedicated leader in the field, serving two terms as Associate Editor of JPSP and on the executive committees of SPSP, Association for Research in Personality, European Association of Personality, and the International Association of Cross-Cultural Psychology.
Tributes
Verónica is the leader in expanding personality psychology to include cross-cultural issues and varieties of personal identity. The idea that multiple cultures can and often do reside in a single individual, and the ways in which that can be both a challenge and an advantage for that individual, is one of those truly ground-breaking insights that turn research in a new direction. Plus, Verónica is a stimulating colleague, devoted and inspiring teacher, and a fun friend to have. She more than deserves her place on this Wall!
– David Funder
I've known Verónica Benet-Martínez since my graduate school days, when she was a post-doc. Over the past three decades, she has been a great source of inspiration to me and to generations of researchers in personality and cross-cultural psychology. Academically, she has established herself as one of the most influential and widely respected researchers in the areas of personality, cultural identity, and self-concept, and she has made a number of foundational methodological contributions to the domain of cross-cultural research. Beyond that, she is a terrific person, always ready to embark on new adventures—both intellectually and socially. It has been my great pleasure to have her as a friend and colleague.
– Sam Gosling
I started working on this tribute and was immediately beset by writing paralysis: How is it possible to summarize over 30 years of research and almost 20 years of friendship? So, instead, I offer you these 53 words: Verónica is a force of nature, with a Spidey sense of which frontiers science should conquer next; matchless wisdom and perspective about the behavior of humans and the role of culture(s); and a devastating eye and ear for the all-too frequent gaps in logic and biases in thinking that slow our research down. Looking forward to where you will lead us next, Verónica!
– Sonja Lyubomirsky
Verònica Benet-Martínez sees subtleties and paradoxes in personalities and cultures. She brings to her collaborations deep intellect, broad expertise and tireless curiosity, but also complex experiences, rare self-awareness and radical honesty. She lives the nuances that she studies. I've learned so much from her as a collaborator and more importantly as a friend.
– Michael Morris
Verónica Benet-Martínez has been a valuable and influential friend and colleague who has importantly shaped the revival of the study of personality and culture; and her service to communities of psychologists in Europe and North America has helped to tie these communities together. I wish only that she could be on two continents at the same time!
– Daniel Ozer