Jorge Vala, PhD in Social Psychology, University of Louvain (1984), was a full professor at ISCTE-IUL and a researcher at the Institute of Social Sciences (ICS)/University of Lisbon, institution where he is currently Emeritus Researcher. Jorge Vala research focus on socio-cognitive processes, namely in the field of social representations and ideologies, social norms and social identities. His present projects articulate these processes with the study of racism and prejudice, migration issues, political attitudes, social justice, and validation of everyday knowledge.

Jorge Vala was an invited professor at several universities, including the University René Descartes-Paris, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, the State University of Rio de Janeiro and the Federal University of Paraíba. He was a member of the Executive Committee of the European Association of Social Psychology and President of the Portuguese Association of Psychology. He was the National Coordinator for the European Social Survey, the European Values Study and the International Social Survey Programme. He also was Director of the Portuguese infrastructure PASSDA (Production and Archive of Social Science Data) and member of the Scientific Board of the Fondation Suisse pour la Recherche en Sciences Sociales (FORS). Between 2007 and 2009, he chaired the ICS- ULisboa Academic Board. He served as Director of the ICS-ULisboa between 2009 and 2014. Jorge Vala received the J.P. Codol Award from the European Association of Social Psychology (2010) and the Career Award from the Portuguese Association of Psychology (2012).

Selected Publications

Ramos, A., Pereira, C. R., Vala, J.(2020). The impact of biological and cultural racisms on attitudes towards immigrants and immigration public policies, Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies , 46: 574-592.

Vala, J., Pereira, C. R. (2020) Immigrants and Refugees: From Social Disaffection to Perceived Threat. In  D. Jodelet, J. Vala, E. Drozda-Senkowska (Eds), Societies Under Threat: A Pluri-Disciplinary Approach (Frontiers in Sociology and Social Research, vol 3). London: Springer

Correia, I., Pereira, C. R.,Vala, J. (2018). Under Victimization by an Outgroup: Belief in a Just World, National Identification, and Ingroup Blame, Frontiers in Psychology, 9.

Pereira, C. R., Álvaro, J. L.Vala, J. (2018). The Ego-Defensive Role of Legitimacy: How Threat-Based Justifications Protect the Self-Esteem of Discriminators. Personality and Social Psychology.

Gouveia-Pereira, M., Vala, J., Correia, I. (2016). Teachers' legitimacy: Effects of justice perception and social comparison processes. British Journal of Educational Psychology, 87:1-15. 

Leyens, J-P, Vala, J.(2016) 'Back to the Future': Ideological Dimensions of Intergroup Relations. In J. Vala, S. Waldzus & M. M. Calheiros (Eds.), The Social Developmental Construction of Violence and Intergroup Conflict, London: Springer.

Vala, J., Pereira, C, Lima, M., Leyens, J-P (2012). Intergroup time bias and racialized social relations. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 38: 491-504.

Vala, J., Drozda-Senkowska, E., Oberlé, D., Lopes, D., Silva, P. (2011). Group heterogeneity and social validation of everyday knowledge: the mediating role of perceived group participation. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, 14: 347-362. 

Pereira, C., Vala, J., Costa-Lopes, R. (2010). From Prejudice to Discrimination: The Legitimizing Role of Perceived Threat Indiscrimination Against Immigrants. European Journal of Social Psychology, 40, 1231-1250.

Pereira, C., Vala, J., Leyens, JPh (2009). From Infra-humanization to Discrimination: The Mediation of Symbolic Threat Needs Egalitarian Norms, Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 45:336-344

Vala, J., Pereira, C., Costa-Lopes, R. (2009).Is the attribution of cultural differences to minorities an expression of racial prejudice? International Journal of Psychology, 44: 1, 20-28.

Vala, J., Lopes, D., Lima, M. (2008). Black Immigrants in Portugal: Luso-Tropicalism and Prejudice. Journal of Social Issues, 64, 287-302

Correia, I., Vala, J., Aguiar, P. (2007). Victim's Innocence, Social Categorization and the Threat to the Belief in a Just World. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology , 43, 31-38.

Vala, J. (2007). Representações Sociais e Psicologia Social do Conhecimento Quotidiano. In J. Vala e M. B. Monteiro (Edits), Psicologia Social (7ª edição ). Lisboa. Fundação Calouste Gulbenkian

Vala, J., Lima, M. & Lopes, D. (2004). Social values, prejudice and solidarity in the European Union. In W. Arts & L. Halman (Eds.), European values at the turn of the millennium. Leiden: Brill

Vala, J. , Brito, R. e Lopes, D. (1999). Expressões dos racismos em Portugal, Lisboa: Imprensa de Ciências Sociais.

Vala, J., Garcia-Marques, L., Pereira, M. e Lopes, D. (1998). Validation of polemical social representations: Introducing the intergroup differentiation of homogeneity. Social Science Information, 37, 469-492.

Vala, J. (1993). As representações sociais no quadro dos paradigmas e metáforas da psicologia social. Análise Social, 28 (4-5), 887-919

Vala, J., Monteiro, M.B., e Leyens, J. Ph. (1988). Perception of violence as a function of observer's ideology and actor's group membership. British Journal of Social Psychology, 27, 231-237.