Benjamin Karney (born 1968) is an American professor of

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

at the

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...

and an adjunct behavioral scientist at the

Rand Corporation The RAND Corporation, doing business as RAND, is an American nonprofit global policy think tank, research institute, and public sector consulting firm. RAND engages in research and development (R&D) in several fields and industries. Since the ...

. His research is on

interpersonal relationship In social psychology, an interpersonal relation (or interpersonal relationship) describes a social association, connection, or affiliation between two or more people. It overlaps significantly with the concept of social relations, which a ...

s and marriage, examining the effects of stress on marital processes, divorce rates in military marriages, intimate relationships among youth and young adults, and marriage in low-income populations.

Early life and education

Karney was born in 1968 in Los Angeles, to German and Israeli immigrants. Karney attended Mirman School for the Gifted and Harvard High School. Karney attended

Harvard University Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...

, where he was a tenor in

The Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones The Harvard-Radcliffe Veritones is an a cappella group at Harvard University founded in 1985 by a group of undergraduates. It is one of several contemporary co-ed a cappella groups at the college. Along with two performances every year in Sander ...

and did theater; Karney played Tommy Judd in a production of ''Another Country''. He graduated magna cum laude,

Phi Beta Kappa The Phi Beta Kappa Society () is the oldest academic honor society in the United States. It was founded in 1776 at the College of William & Mary in Virginia. Phi Beta Kappa aims to promote and advocate excellence in the liberal arts and sciences, ...

, with a degree in psychology in 1990. His most influential teacher at Harvard was Roger Brown, who inspired Karney to apply to the

, social psychology program. He was also influenced by the work of Kurt Lewin and

Stanley Milgram Stanley Milgram (August 15, 1933 – December 20, 1984) was an American social psychologist known for his controversial Milgram experiment, experiments on obedience conducted in the 1960s during his professorship at Yale University, Yale.Blass, T ...

. Karney received the

American Psychological Association The American Psychological Association (APA) is the main professional organization of psychologists in the United States, and the largest psychological association in the world. It has over 170,000 members, including scientists, educators, clin ...

(APA) dissertation award for his work on how marriages changes: theoretical, methodological, and empirical considerations.

Career

Karney achieved his Ph.D. in social psychology from in June 1997, working with Thomas Bradbury. The same year, he accepted a position as an assistant professor of social psychology at the

University of Florida The University of Florida (Florida or UF) is a public university, public land-grant university, land-grant research university in Gainesville, Florida, United States. It is a senior member of the State University System of Florida and a preem ...

(UF). Karney has been honored by the professional community and received several awards, including the New Scholar Award from the International Network on Personal Relationships and, in 1996 and 1998, the Reuben Hill Research and Theory Award from the National Council on Family Relations. During his tenure at UF, he was given the Gerald R. Miller Award for Early Career Achievement by the International Association for Relationship Research and the Early Career Award by the Relationship Researchers Interest Group of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Karney was also recognized by UF's Department of Psychology as a distinguished teacher. In 2004, Karney returned to Los Angeles, and since 2007 has been a professor of Social Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of California (UCLA). With Thomas Bradbury, Karney co-directs the Relationship Institute at UCLA. Karney currently serves on several editorial boards and reviews grants for the National Institute of Mental Health. Karney has received grant support from the

National Science Foundation The U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) is an Independent agencies of the United States government#Examples of independent agencies, independent agency of the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government that su ...

National Institute of Mental Health The National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) is one of 27 institutes and centers that make up the National Institutes of Health (NIH). The NIH, in turn, is an agency of the United States Department of Health and Human Services and is the primar ...

Administration for Children and Families The Administration for Children and Families (ACF) is a division of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). It is headed by the assistant secretary of health and human services for children and families. It has a $49 bill ...

United States Department of Defense The United States Department of Defense (DoD, USDOD, or DOD) is an United States federal executive departments, executive department of the federal government of the United States, U.S. federal government charged with coordinating and superv ...

, and the Fetzer Institute.

Books

Bradbury, T. N. & Karney, B. R. (2010). Intimate Relationships. New York: W. W. Norton.

Personal life

At UCLA, he was the faculty sponsor for the Scattertones

a cappella Music performed a cappella ( , , ; ), less commonly spelled acapella in English, is music performed by a singer or a singing group without instrumental accompaniment. The term ''a cappella'' was originally intended to differentiate between Rena ...

group.

References

External links