Penn PIK Professor Dolores Albarracín, the director of the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s Science of Science Communication division, has been named as the newest editor of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, starting on January 1, 2023.
Albarracín is the Alexandra Heyman Nash Penn Integrates Knowledge (PIK) University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania and director of the Social Action Lab at the Annenberg School for Communication. Drawing on her experience as a researcher and scholar, she will edit one of the journal’s three sections, Attitudes and Social Cognition.
The Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, a landmark journal in the field of social psychology, was established in 1965 by the American Psychological Association. The monthly, peer-reviewed journal publishes work from the field’s most prominent scholars, and poses important questions about the future of personality and social psychology. Topics published in the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology span three independently edited sections: Attitudes and Social Cognition, Interpersonal Relations and Group Processes, and Personality Processes and Individual Differences.
Albarracín’s research is an unusual combination of basic and applied psychology, and focuses on the impact of communication and persuasion on human behavior and the formation of beliefs, attitudes, and goals, particularly those that are socially beneficial. In addition to an interest in basic attitudinal processes, she is interested in finding ways of intervening to promote public health. She has published six books and more than 200 journal articles in leading scientific outlets, including co-authoring the 2021 book “Creating Conspiracy Beliefs: How Our Thoughts Are Shaped,” published by Cambridge University Press.
Read more about her appointment from the Annenberg School for Communication.
