Research

Research

I’ve published over 300 peer-reviewed scholarly works (peer-reviewed articles/book chapters/reviews) in such flagship journals as American Psychologist, Journal of Positive Psychology, Humanistic Psychologist, Professional Psychology, and Journal of Aggression, Maltreatment, and Trauma. 

I am lead editor of 11 academic books, including Pathfinders in International Psychology; Internationalizing the Teaching of Psychology; Human Strengths and Resilience; Teaching Psychology Around the World, Volumes 4 and 5; Psychology in Southeast Asia; Psychology in Oceania and the Caribbean (2022); Psychosocial experiences and adjustment of migrants (2023); and Handbook of Media Psychology: The Science and the Practice (2024). The Handbook of Media Psychology was endorsed by three past presidents of the APA.  I authored an extensive textbook supplement for a best-selling Allyn & Bacon Abnormal Psychology text and have a sole-authored book in contract (Resilience and Post- Traumatic Growth). I’m co-editor of Springer’s book series International and Cultural Psychology. 

I’ve served on several editorial boards (e.g., PLOS One, APA’s Traumatology, and APA’s Peace & Conflict). I have offered over 110 professional presentations including APA, AERA, AAA, APS, IAAP, and ICP, from Africa, Australia, and Europe, to Mexico, the USA, South America, the Caribbean, and the Middle East.

 

 

Praise for Books by Dr. Rich:

“An invaluable source for academics interested in the psychology of media, including artificial intelligence, and for psychologists who use media in their work, including telehealth.”

-Steven Pinker, Johnstone Professor of Psychology, Harvard University, and the author of How the Mind Works and Rationality.

“As a long-time international psychologist myself, I see this bold new volume as a great leap forward for international psychology. The 73 distinguished contributors and editors from 21 countries have carefully crafted a handbook that will be the go-to resource on the topic for years to come. For psychology to continue to be relevant in the 21st century it must become more international; I am grateful this book will help us accomplish this challenging but rewarding goal.”

–Philip G. Zimbardo, Ph.D. Past-President American Psychological Association, Professor Emeritus Stanford University

“Psychosocial Experiences and Adjustment of Migrants: Coming to the USA represents, to date, the most comprehensive single volume on the critical social problem of the Americas today. Further, the book serves as a state-of-the-art template for researching, understanding, and serving this marginalized and vital force of individuals both in America and the world.”

–Antonio E. Puente, PhD, 125th President of the American Psychological Association

“In today’s world, media (particularly social media) and technology are omnipresent and engulfing; thus, a book focusing on the psychology of media and technology is sorely needed. The Handbook of Media Psychology and Technology–The Science and the Practice meets that need with chapters authored by the most prominent psychologists working in this area. This volume is one that you simply must have.”

-Ronald F. Levant, Ed.D., M.B.A., A.B.P.P., Professor of Psychology Emeritus, The University of Akron, Former President, American Psychological Association

“This is a brilliant, unprecedented collection of international scholarship that every psychology professor and student should read. The 21st century in the teaching of psychology has truly arrived with this book, creating a thoroughly needed international focus for our pedagogy.”

–Frank Farley, Ph.D., L. H. Carnell Professor, Temple University; Former President, American Psychological Association (APA), International Council of Psychologists, American Educational Research Association (AERA), and the Society for International Psychology (Division 52 of APA)

“An intriguing glimpse into the future by world class experts in the media and psychology. Will their prognostications be validated over the next decade? The foundations inherent in their forecasts are skillfully explored. Unprecedented technological advances continue to shape the future in unexpected ways, including within behavioral health care. “

-Pat DeLeon, former American Psychological Association President

“Outstanding contribution to Media Psychology that provides an up-to-date overview of the field. The book is edited by some of our most eminent media psychologists. This will be a standard for the field and an excellent textbook for media psychology.”

-James H. Bray, PhD, Former President of the American Psychological Association; Fellow of the APA Society for Media Psychology and Technology; Professor, University of Texas at San Antonio

“This book will serve as a respected and valued resource for globalizing psychology and establishing a more nuanced understanding of human behavior. I strongly recommend this fifth volume as an exceptional learning tool for all readers who yearn to adopt a broader worldview of psychology.”

–Florence L. Denmark, PhD, Past President, American Psychological Association

“This book volume is seminal in addressing the teaching of psychology as an intercultural science. It is unparalleled in its scope and diversity, presenting regional variations in psychology curriculum development emphasis, as well as emerging approaches to teaching for psychological literacy, approaches to learning and professional practice. This book is both timely and significant in adding to the growing volume of scholarship in international psychology, which is the cradle for the development of psychological sciences of the future. Users of this book volume will be inspired by its freshness in perspectives and invitational approach to evolving pedagogies in the psychological sciences.”

–Elias Mpofu, PhD, DEd, CRC, Professor of Health Services Research at the University of North Texas, Distinguished Visiting Professor of Educational Psychology and Inclusive Education at the University of Johannesburg, South Africa and Honorary Professor of Health Sciences at the University of Sydney, Australia

“Drs. Grant Rich and Jill Sirikantraporn are bona fide experts on resilience who have brought together a remarkable team to present their unique work about resilience from a strengths perspective.”

–Danny Wedding, PhD, editor of PsycCRITIQUES, co-editor of Handbook of International Psychology, and former president of American Psychological Association International Division

“This is a needed global book in our age of globalization. The collection of contributions from international experts is cross-cultural in the best sense of the term, providing new contributions to empirical research, theory development, and practice. Practitioners as well as researchers in many fields will find it a valuable addition to the literature on post-traumatic growth and resilience.”

–Fathali M. Moghaddam, PhD, Georgetown University

“Anyone interested in knowing more about massage research today and the potential of therapeutic massage will want to read this book.”

–Elliot Greene MA NCTMB, Past President, American Massage Therapy Association

“As the world becomes smaller with each passing day, this latest book of Dr. Rich and his colleagues is a global distillation of the wonderfully diverse approaches to psychology pedagogy. It is as inclusive in countries as it is diverse in approaches—linguistics, indigenous populations, liberation, and perhaps most refreshingly, perspectives beyond the western hegemony that can often be overwhelming, biased, and a poor generalization to others. The diversity of approaches, perspectives and voices is rare to be collected in such a singular volume. Bravo!”

–Dr. Chris Stout, American Psychological Association International Humanitarian Award Winner and Past Chief Information Officer for the State of Illinois Division of Mental Health

“Having worked very closely with refugees from Southeast Asia for more than 10 years, and witnessed how they started with nothing and became established as business people or professionals in Canada in 20 years, I know that they have much to teach people in the West about the cultural source of their resilience and success. That is why I believe that Psychology in Southeast Asia fills a major gap in the literature regarding the vital role of culture-specific beliefs, values, rituals and social structures for clinical psychology, health psychology and positive psychology. I highly recommend this book for both researchers and practitioners.”

–Paul T. P. Wong, Ph.D., President of the International Network on Personal Meaning (www.meaning.ca), Professor Emeritus, Trent University

“This book is destined to be the gold standard, a must have book for clinicians, researchers, educators and social policy makers who are interested in the growth and applications of media psychology in clinical practice or research, artificial intelligence and virtual reality, ethical considerations or the next chapter in the growth and development of this emerging specialty in psychology from its “rock stars.”

-Alan D Entin, PhD, ABPP, a founding member and Past President of the APA Society for Media Psychology and Technology; Past President of D43 (Couples and Family) and Past President of D42 (Psychologists in Independent Practice)

“Some 650 million persons reside in Southeast Asia. This pioneering volume discusses innovative psychological research conducted in 9 ASEAN countries and helps us to understand better what culturally varied lives these people lead. There is no other book like it.”

–Uwe P. Gielen, Ph.D., Past President, Society for Cross-Cultural Research (SCCR); Past President International Council of Psychologists (ICP); Past President American Psychological Association, International Division; Professor Emeritus, St. Francis College

“For many years, cross-cultural psychologists have pointed to the Eurocentric bias in Psychology. Henrich, Heine and Norenzayan provided strong empirical evidence of this bias when they demonstrated that much of psychological science is based primarily on samples from Western Educated Industrialized Rich Democracies (WEIRD). In this pioneering volume on Psychology in Southeast Asia, Rich, Jaafar and Barron have provided a significant contribution to counter this WEIRD science. In this timely book, the authors cover the significant psychological theories and research from 9 of the 10 ASEAN countries. It provides an enlightening overview of the people of Southeast Asia beyond the stereotypes engendered by the Vietnam war or the 1MDB scandal in Malaysia. I highly recommend it to scholars and individuals interested in understanding Southeast-Asian psychology from indigenous perspectives.”

–Frederick Leong, PhD, Director of the Consortium for Multicultural Psychology Research, Michigan State University; Past President, Asian American Psychological Association; Past President, APA’s Division 45 (Society for the Psychological Study of Ethnic Minority Issues), Founding Editor APA’s Asian American Journal of Psychology

“Teaching Psychology around the World (Volume 5) provides an excellent global and diverse perspective of how psychology is taught throughout the world. It reinforces the importance of context, with many of the chapters setting psychology in a historical and social context—which influenced how the teaching of psychology developed. Kudos to the authors for including topics of teaching resilience, decolonizing teaching, and exposure to indigenous knowledge—reflecting a more inclusive perspective of psychology, and recognizing marginalized communities needing to be heard in the mainstream.”

–Jean Lau Chin, ED.D., ABPP, Past-President, International Council of Psychologists, Past-President, APA Division 52 (International), Professor, Adelphi University
Honorary Professor, University of Sydney, Australia, APA Presidential Candidate in 2020

Praise for the book Psychology in Oceania and the Caribbean (Rich & Ramkumar, 2022)
“Chock full of expert knowledge and insights, Psychology in Oceania and the Caribbean is an indispensable resource for psychologists. A must-read that will expand your understanding of life in these regions and beyond!”

–Pamela A. Hays, PhD, Author of Addressing Cultural Complexities in Practice

“This collection of articles for Oceania and the Caribbean provides an eye-opener to the wonderfully diverse approaches to Psychology pedagogy in these two regions. We are indeed proud as a regional University to witness such commitment to brilliantly researched and written pieces providing deep insights into mental health and cultural complexities that have shaped and evolved thinking in this dynamic world we live in, particularly in Oceania”

–Professor Pal Ahluwalia, Vice-Chancellor and President, The University of the South Pacific.

“This monumental volume represents a giant step towards the goal of a truly global psychology that is representative, contextualized, and de-colonized. By providing incisive summaries of the state of the field across a dizzying array of countries in the Caribbean and Oceania, each chapter, written by expert local and transnational psychologists, puts indigenous psychology on spectacular display. Readers will witness a stunning diversity in contextual influences on psychological experience – cultural, historical, sociopolitical, geographic, and climatoeconomic – while appreciating the shared strengths, vulnerabilities, and opportunities for the development of a rapidly burgeoning psychology across these two world regions. This book is recommended reading for all psychologists and psychologists in training worldwide and will be particularly indispensable for those interested in chronicling the unfolding history of our field throughout the 21st Century.”

–Gail M. Ferguson, Ph.D., Associate Professor, Institute of Child Development, University of Minnesota; Former Outstanding Early Career International Psychologist, American Psychological Association (Div 52); Editorial Board Member, Caribbean Journal of Psychology

“This is a breath-taking book in its coverage of the uniquely endowed psychology worlds of Oceania and the Caribbean. Now that Dr. Grant Rich, Dr. Neeta Ramkumar, and colleagues have produced this awesome book volume on the cultural psychology of the rim water nations, I have a palpable sense of relief from their having addressed a huge gap in cultural psychology scholarship. This volume opens hitherto undreamed of opportunities for further studies on cultural practices in psychology in Oceania and the Caribbean!”

–Elias Mpofu, PhD, DE.D, CRC, MAPS, Professor of Health Sciences at the University of North Texas, Carnegie Foundation Visiting Professor, School of Human and Community Development, University of the Witwatersrand, South Africa, Honorary Professor of Health Sciences at the University of Sydney and Executive Board member of the Australian Psychological Society’s Rehabilitation Psychology Interest Group

“The encapsulating authors, Dr. Grant J. Rich, Dr. Neeta A. Ramkumar and colleagues, of this book, take you on an outstanding journey of what is occurring in cultural psychology in the 21st century. It addresses the abundance of each nation through a transformational lens of current practices in psychology in Oceania and the Caribbean. I would absolutely recommend it to anyone interested in sailing the high seas connecting the present with the endless possibilities of those who dare to journey into the waters of a divine future.”

–Florence Denmark, Past-President, American Psychological Association

“This book represents a vital exploration into the purpose and practice of Psychology in island nations. It is a welcome compilation of academic writings from sociocultural perspectives within Oceania and the Caribbean and serves as a landmark account of the unique forces shaping the development and evolution of Psychology in these states.”

–Gerard Hutchinson MD, Professor of Psychiatry, University of the West Indies, St Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago