Luke Smillie

Professor Luke Smillie holds the position of Professor in the Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences at the University of Melbourne, serving as Director of the Personality Processes Laboratory. Specializing in personality psychology—the study of individual differences in patterns of behavior and experience—his academic journey includes a PhD from the University of Queensland, followed by two postdoctoral fellowships at the University of London. He joined the University of Melbourne in 2011, progressing through ranks to full professor.

Smillie's research focuses on the biological underpinnings of personality traits, their associations with emotion and subjective wellbeing, and their role in prosocial and moral decision-making. His highly cited works include the meta-analysis 'Predicting psychological and subjective well-being from personality: A meta-analysis' published in Psychological Bulletin in 2020 (over 1,169 citations), 'The new reinforcement sensitivity theory: Implications for personality measurement' in Personality and Social Psychology Review in 2006 (552 citations), and 'The role of interpersonal traits in social decision making: Exploring sources of behavioral heterogeneity in economic games' in 2015 (265 citations). He is also co-author of the widely used textbook 'An Introduction to Personality, Individual Differences and Intelligence,' now in its third edition with SAGE Publications.

In addition to his research, Smillie teaches personality psychology at undergraduate and graduate levels and has supervised many PhD students to timely completion. His scholarship is evidenced by over 8,876 citations and a strong presence in public engagement, including a Psychology Today blog titled 'The Patterns of Persons' and contributions to Scientific American. He has delivered public lectures and appeared on podcasts discussing personality traits like extraversion and their implications for wellbeing.

Professional Email: lsmillie@unimelb.edu.au