Academic Profile
Jason Rentfrow
University Senior Lecturer, Fellow of Fitzwilliam College
Research Interests
My research examines the links between basic psychological characteristics and common social psychological processes. To understand such links, I adopt an interactionist perspective that focuses on person-environment interactions and social perception. In this work, I have examined how personality is expressed in a variety of domains (e.g., music preferences, movie preferences, political ideology, geographic regions), and how impressions of others are formed on the basis of such information.
Course Organiser
Part II Psy 1: Social Psychology
Recent Publications
Florida, R. & Rentfrow, P. J. (in press). Place and well-being. In K. Sheldon, T. Kashdan, and M. Steger (Eds.) Designing the Future of Positive Psychology: Taking Stock and Moving Forward. New York: Oxford University Press.
Nauman, L. P., Vazire, S. Rentfrow, P. J., & Gosling, S. D. (in press). Personality judgments based on physical appearance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin.
Rentfrow, P. J. (in press). Statewide differences in personality: Toward a psychological geography of the United States. American Psychologist.
Rentfrow, P. J. & McDonald, J. A. (in press). Music preferences and personality. In P. N. Juslin and J. Sloboda (Eds.) Handbook of Music and Emotion. Oxford University Press.
Rentfrow, P. J., Mellander, C., & Florida, R. (in press). Happy States of America: A state-level analysis of psychological, economic, and social well-being. Journal of Research in Personality.
Vazire, S., Nauman, L. P., Rentfrow, P. J., & Gosling, S. D. (in press). Smiling reflects different emotions in men and women. Behavioral and Brain Sciences.
Rentfrow, P. J., McDonald, J. A., & Oldmeadow, J. A. (2009). You are what you listen to: Young people’s stereotypes about music fans. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 12, 329-344.
Rentfrow, P.J., Jost, J.T., Gosling, S.D., & Potter, J. (2009). Statewide differences in personality predict voting patterns in 1996–2004 U.S. Presidential Elections. In J.T. Jost, A.C. Kay, & H. Thorisdottir (Eds.), Social and psychological bases of ideology and system justification (pp. 314-347). Oxford, United Kingdom: Oxford University Press.
Rentfrow, P. J., Gosling, S. D. & Potter, J. (2008). A Theory of the emergence, persistence, and expression of regional variation in basic traits. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 3, 339-369.
Vazire, S., Naumann, L. P., Rentfrow, P. J., & Gosling, S. D. (2008). Portrait of a narcissist: Manifestations of narcissism in physical appearance. Journal of Research in Personality, 42, 1439-1447.
The BBC's 'The Big Personality Test'/'The Personality Project'
Jason has been working in collaboration with the BBC as part of its 'Lab UK' series of online experiments.
See The Personality Project page for more details.
Further Information
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- Position: University Lecturer and Fellow of Fitzwilliam College
- E-mail: For media inquiries, contact Thomas Kirk, tdk25@admin.cam.ac.uk
- E-mail: pjr39@cam.ac.uk
- Tel: 01223 334520
- Address: Department of Social and Developmental Psychology, Free School Lane, Cambridge CB2 3RQ
- Website: Social and Developmental Psychology
- Research Interests: The links between basic psychological characteristics and common social psychological processes. To understand such links, I adopt an interactionist perspective that focuses on person-environment interactions and social perception. In this work, I have examined how personality is expressed in a variety of domains (e.g., music preferences, movie preferences, political ideology, geographic regions), and how impressions of others are formed on the basis of such information.