Personality Psychology at the University of California, Riverside

 

 

The Department of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside has developed rapidly in recent years, and will be moving into a major new building in the Fall of 2008.  Personality Psychology is an important area of emphasis.  We have grown into one of the major national programs, with four faculty members who are members of ARP and several more with relevant research interests.

 

  Among the ARP members (in alphabetical order), Veronica Benet-Martinez studies cross-cultural applications of personality and the psychology of multi-cultural individuals, Howard Friedman focuses on the relationship between personality and health with a special emphasis of longitudinal data extending over many decades (the Terman Study), David Funder studies the accuracy of personality judgment and is developing a new research program on the psychology of situations, and Daniel Ozer examines how goals organize individuals’ lives, the empirical status of personality types, and topics in psychometrics and methodology.  In addition, Robin DiMatteo is an expert on processes of doctor-patient communication and individual differences in doctors associated with their effectiveness, Carolyn Murray examines self-handicapping and academic achievement, Sonja Lyubomirsky studies happiness and is among the pioneers of positive psychology, and Robert Rosenthal is a world-renowned authority on nonverbal behavior, self-fulfilling prophecies, and methodologies such as meta-analysis and other techniques such as the Binomial Effect Size Display.  Our newest addition, Kate Sweeny, examines topics relevant to risk judgments, coping, decision-making, emotions, social cognition, and communication, such as how people respond to negative life events.

Students admitted to the UCR Social/Personality program work closely with a faculty mentor throughout their graduate career (typically five years).  Students in good standing are supported for five years in some combination of fellowship, teaching assistant, and research assistant appointments.

Students are required to take courses in personality and social psychology, in quantitative methods, and courses outside the area to complete a breadth requirement.  Required course work is usually completed early in year three of the program, leaving plenty of time for electives (there is a departmental minor in quantitative methods that interests a number of students) and for research.  Students complete a second-year research project, pass their qualifying examination by the end of their third year, complete a dissertation proposal in year four, and file their dissertation by the end of year five. 

All of the graduate programs at UCR seek to train students for research careers in universities or in private industry.  For more information, please consult the UCR Psychology Department website. 

 

Ryan Howell	Tera Letzring
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