Speakers

Ronald P. Rohner

Title: "Longing for Belonging: Feeling cared about (or not), and why it matters"

Ronald P. Rohner is Professor Emeritus of Human Development and Family Sciences and of Anthropology at the University of Connecticut, USA. There he is also Director of the Rohner Center for the Study of Interpersonal Acceptance and Rejection

,and he is Executive Director of the International Society for Interpersonal Acceptance and Rejection (ISIPAR). Rohner is also the recipient of the American Psychological Association’s Award for Distinguished Contributions to the International Advancement of Psychology, as well as of the award for Outstanding International Psychologist from the USA in 2008. Beyond this, he is founding President of ISIPAR, and a former President of the Society for Cross-Cultural Research. He also served on the Executive Council of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology. In addition, he is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and of the American Psychological Society, and he is a Fellow and Distinguished Member of the American Anthropological Association. He is also a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. Finally, he is author, co-author, or editor of 17 books and Special Issues of journals, and of more than 200 articles, chapters, and other publications and electronic media.

Ronald P. Rohner

Title: "How interpersonal acceptance-rejection theory research
on adult intimate relationships led to the expansion and paradigm shift of the theory"

Abdul Khaleque, PhD, is a Senior Scientist in the Ronald and Nancy Rohner Center for the Study of Parental Acceptance and Rejection in the School of Family Studies at the University of Connecticut.

He was also Professor of Psychology at the University of Dhaka in Bangladesh. His current research interests include cross-cultural parenting and lifespan development, intimate adult relationship, psychological adjustment, health, well-being, and quality of life.

Ronald P. Rohner

Title:

Vítor Alexandre Coelho, PhD in Educational Psychology at University of Coimbra, is a Portuguese certified psychologist, and one of the Portuguese Professional Psychologists Association founders.

He is currently the president of the International School Psychology Association (ISPA), the coordinator of the School Psychology Master’s Degree at the Lusíada University of Porto, and a research member at the Centre for Research in Psychology for Positive Development. Since 2004, he is the coordinator of the Positive Attitude project at the Académico de Torres Vedras, which intends to promote students’ socioemotional skills. His main research interests are social and emotional learning, bullying and cyberbullying, and middle school transition adjustment. He has published over 30 research papers and book chapters focusing on these topics.