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Victor Benassi

Victor Benassi

Victor Benassi graduated from the City University of New York in 1975 with a Ph.D. in psychology. His primary research interests focus on the psychology of personal control and judgment of contingency. His articles address effects of situational and individual difference variables on illusory control and contingency judgments and on effects of feedback on judgmental accuracy. Other research interests include judgmental biases and errors, belief in putative paranormal phenomena, and belief persistence. Benassi has maintained a research collaboration with Gary Goldstein in the area of college teaching and with Lee Seidel on issues related to college teaching as a professional field of study and preparing future faculty.

Benassi has taught a variety of courses, including introductory psychology, research methods, statistics, meta-analysis, social psychology, abnormal behavior, psychology of depression, belief in alleged paranormal phenomena, and human judgment. He has been involved since the early 1980s in preparing doctoral students for faculty careers. He teaches the Psychology Department's Practicum and Seminar in the Teaching of Psychology as well as a course on Classroom Research and Assessment through the Graduate School's Preparing Future Faculty Program.

Benassi has joint appointments as Professor of Psychology (Psychology Department) and Professor of College Teaching (Graduate School). He has received several UNH awards—the Excellence in Teaching Award, the Outstanding Use of Technology in Education Award, and the College of Liberal Arts’ Lindberg Outstanding Scholar/Teacher Award. In 2003, he received the American Psychological Foundation's Distinguished Teaching of Psychology award.

Primary Interests:

  • Applied Social Psychology
  • Causal Attribution
  • Health Psychology
  • Judgment and Decision Making
  • Personality, Individual Differences
  • Social Cognition

Journal Articles:

  • Clark, S. C. & Benassi, V. A. (1997). Judgment of contingency: Contrast and assimilation, displacement of judgments, and self-efficacy. Social Behavior and Personality, 25, 183-199.
  • McGarva, A. R. & Benassi, V. A. (1997). Judging social and nonsocial contingencies. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 12.
  • Newman, S. E. & Benassi, V. A. (1989). Putting judgments of control into context: Contrast effects. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8, 67-82.
  • Presson, P. K., & Benassi, V. A. (2003). Are depressive symptoms positively or negatively associated with the illusion of control? Social Behavior and Personality: An International Journal, 31, 483-0485
  • Presson, P. K. & Benassi, V. A. (1996). Locus of control orientation and depressive symptomatology: A meta-analysis. Journal of Social Behavior and Personality, 11, 201-212.

Other Publications:

  • Benassi, V. A., & Fuld, K. (2004). University of New Hampshire’s preparing future psychology faculty program. In W. Buskist and B. Beins (Eds.), Preparing the new psychology professoriate: Helping graduate students become competent teachers. Society for the Teaching of Psychology
  • Seidel, L. F., & Benassi, V. A. (2005). Faculty productivity as an agenda for faculty development. In J. E. Groccia and J. E. Miller (Eds). On becoming a productive university: Strategies for reducing costs and increasing quality in higher education. Bolton, MA: Anker Publications

Courses Taught:

  • Belief in Paranormal Phenomena
  • Introduction to Psychology
  • Practicum and Seminar/Teaching Psychology
  • Psychology of Depression

Victor Benassi
Department of Psychology
Conant Hall, 10 Library Way
University of New Hampshire
Durham, New Hampshire 03824
United States of America

  • Phone: (603) 862-3180
  • Fax: (603) 862-4986

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