My research explores how people construct, maintain and defend their identities, with a particular focus on motivational processes and the influence of culture and context on identity construction. More generally, I am interested in developing a better understanding of the relationship between individual and social representation processes.

I am the originator of Motivated Identity Construction Theory (MICT). Grounded in principles of cultural evolution, MICT proposes that people across cultures are motivated to construct identities that are characterised by feelings of belonging, positive self-regard, distinctiveness, continuity, efficacy and meaning. However, different societies may develop different ways of satisfying each of these six identity motives. MICT has been supported empirically in more than 35 nations.

My research on Cultural Models of Selfhood goes beyond previous "binary" understandings of culture and self. Through research comparing cultural groups worldwide, my collaborators and I explore how individuals and societies emphasise different ways of being both independent and interdependent in self-other relationships.

I founded and lead the Culture and Identity Research Network, a global team of researchers working in more than 30 nations on all inhabited continents.

I have authored or co-authored more than 60 journal articles and book chapters. I am co-editor of the Handbook of Identity Theory and Research, and co-author of Understanding Social Psychology Across Cultures.

Nine of my former PhD students now work in academic positions worldwide.