Rodica Damian

Rodica Damian is an Associate Professor and Associate Department Chair of Social Psychology at the University of Houston's College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences. She directs the Personality Development and Success Lab while serving on the Society for Personality and Social Psychology's Professional Development Committee and as Consulting Editor for Advances in Methods and Practices in Psychological Science.

• Ph.D. in Social-Personality Psychology (2013), University of California, Davis
• Research focuses on personality development across the lifespan, career success predictors, creativity mechanisms, and adversity resilience
• Professional affiliations: Association for Psychological Science (APS), European Association of Personality Psychology (EAPP), Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP), Association for Research in Personality (ARP)

Her lab investigates how diversifying experiences shape personality and creativity through multiple longitudinal studies, including Hurricane Harvey aftermath analysis, South Korean firefighter training tracking, and the COVID-19 pandemic's psychological impact. She employs integrative methodologies examining individual differences, life experiences, and social contexts.

Selected scientific recognition includes APS's Rising Star status (2017) and Best Paper Award from Journal of Research in Personality (2015). Current teaching responsibilities include undergraduate and graduate courses in personality psychology and scientific methods. The lab actively recruits graduate students for its Social-Personality program.