Dolores Albarracín, the Amy Gutmann Penn Integrates Knowledge University Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, has received the 2025 Career Contribution Award from the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. The honor recognizes “a scholar who has made major theoretical and/or empirical contributions to social psychology and/or personality psychology or to bridging these areas together.”
In her scholarly work, Dr. Albarracín studies the impact of communication and persuasion on human behavior and the formation of beliefs, attitudes, and goals, particularly those that are socially beneficial. She is also interested in finding ways of intervening to promote positive social interactions and public policies. Throughout her career, Dr. Albarracín has published some 200 journal articles and book chapters, garnering over 20,000 citations. She is the author of six books, including Creating Conspiracy Beliefs: How Our Thoughts Are Shaped (Cambridge University Press, 2021).
A Penn faculty member for over two decades, Dr. Albarracín holds joint appointments in the Annenberg School for Communication and the department of psychology in the School of Arts & Sciences. She currently directs both the Social Action Lab and the Annenberg Public Policy Center’s communication science division. Earlier in her career, she was a tenured professor at the University of Florida and the University of Illinois.
Dr. Albarracín received her undergraduate degree in psychology from the Catholic University of La Plata in Argentina and her master’s degree and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign.