Marcel Zentner

Marcel Zentner is a Professor for Personality Psychology and Psychological Assessment at the Department of Psychology, University of Innsbruck. He previously held positions at Harvard University, UC-Berkeley, the University of Geneva, and the University of York (GB). Appointed at University of Innsbruck in 2013, he leads research in personality development, psychological assessment, the psychology of mating, emotion and music.

His educational background includes:

• 2004: Habilitation in Psychology, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
• 1996: Ph.D., University of Zurich
• 1992: Diploma (Licentiate) in Psychology, University Zurich
• 1986-1992: Studies in Psychology, Clinical Child Psychology, and Philosophy, University of Zurich and Harvard University

Zentner's research spans multiple domains at the intersection of personality, emotion, and music. His work on temperament assessment has led to the development of validated screening tools used across multiple countries. His research on musical emotion has resulted in systematic approaches to mapping emotional responses to music, culminating in projects like the Emotion-to-Music Mapping Atlas (EMMA). His studies on partner preferences integrate sociocultural and evolutionary perspectives to understand how gender differences in mate selection vary across different societal contexts. Recent work has expanded into pandemic-related relationship dynamics and sophisticated musical ability assessments.

His publication record demonstrates consistent contributions to top-tier journals across psychology, with recent work focusing on musical ability assessment, temperament risk factors in child development, and the psychological impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic on relationships. His research shows a clear trajectory from foundational work on emotion and music to increasingly applied studies with practical assessment tools that have real-world implementation across multiple cultural contexts.

His research has been featured by BBC ONE, National Public Radio, The Wall Street Journal, and published in premier journals including Nature and PNAS. He is the author of the Handbook of Temperament (Guilford Press), coedited with R. Shiner.

His research has been funded by prestigious organizations including the ESRC, the Swiss National Science Foundation, the Jacobs Foundation, and Google. He has served as Editor-in-Chief of Frontiers in Personality and Social Psychology (2014-2019) and has reviewed for numerous top psychology journals and funding bodies including the European Commission and Swiss National Science Foundation.