Juan José Igartua Perosanz

I am a PhD in Psychology from the University of the Basque Country and Professor of Media Psychology in the area of Audiovisual Communication and Advertising at the University of Salamanca. Since 2022, I am a member of the “Academia Europea: The Academy of Europe”, in particular in the section “Film, Media and Visual Studies”. I am the Director of the “Observatorio de los Contenidos audiovisuales” (OCA) [Observatory for Audiovisual Contents], a Recognized Research Group [Grupo de Investigación Reconocido (GIR)] of the University of Salamanca (since 2006) and a Consolidated Research Unit [Unidad de Investigación Consolidada (UIC 313)] of Castile and Leon (http://www.ocausal.es/). The Observatory for Audiovisual Contents obtained the Roblón Award 2020 as “Communication Research Group of the Year” (Spanish Prize). Moreover, in 2024, I have been awarded the María de Maeztu Award for Scientific Excellence by the University of Salamanca.
Between 2006 and 2009, I was the Director of the Thematic Section "Audience and Reception Studies" of the Asociación Española de Investigación de la Comunicación (AE-IC) [Spanish Association for Communication Research], of which I was a Partner Founder. I am also a member of the International Communication Association (ICA) and the Sociedad Científica Española de Psicología Social (SCEPS) [Spanish Scientific Society of Social Psychology]. Between 2016-2019, I was Associate Editor of the International Journal of Social Psychology. In addition, I am a member of the Editorial Board of the academic journals: Human Communication Research, Journal of Broadcasting and Electronic Media, and Journal of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods, and Applications (selection of the most outstanding).
My field of expertise is Media Psychology and Quantitative Research Methods. My research topics are: media effects, narrative persuasion, news frames, media entertainment, entertainment-education, media and immigration, and health communication. I have published more than 90 articles in indexed scientific journals, including the following JCR-WOS journals: Media Psychology, Human Communication Research, Journal of Communication, Journal of Health Communication, Journal of Media Psychology: Theories, Methods, and Applications, European Journal of Social Psychology, Group Processes and Intergroup Relations, Mass Communication & Society, Communications: The European Journal of Communication Research, International Journal of Psychology, and Migration International. In addition, I am the author of several academic books, among which we can highlight: Medios de Comunicación, inmigración y sociedad (Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, 2007), Persuasión narrativa (ECU, 2007), Métodos cuantitativos de investigación en Comunicación (Bosch, 2006), Psicología social de la comunicación (Aljibe, 2005), Teoría e investigación en comunicación social (Síntesis, 2004) y Audiencias y medios de comunicación (Ediciones Universidad de Salamanca, 2003).
In 2021, the work entitled “How to enhance the effects of mediated intergroup contact? Evidence from four countries” (Wojcieszak, Kim & Igartua, 2020)” won the “Mass Communication and Society Journal Article of the Year” award, which was awarded by the Association for Education in Journalism and Mass Communication (USA). On the other hand, my article (co-authored with Professor Andrew F. Hayes) “Mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: concepts, computations, and some common confusions” has been recognized as a 'Highly Cited Paper' in Web of Science (Clarivate) and has accumulated 130 citations in the Web of Science Core Collection to date. I have also presented communications at international conferences, highlighting my interventions at the conferences of the International Communication Association in Montreal (2008), Chicago (2009), Boston (2011), London (2013), Puerto Rico (2015), San Diego (2017), Prague (2018), ICA virtual (2020), Paris (2022), and Gold Coast (2024), and I have also participated during this period of time in IAMCR and ECREA conferences, and in other international conferences or workshops held in Spain (AE-IC, SCEPS, etc.) or in other countries (for example, Israel, Russia).
I have 5 recognized six-year research periods [sexenios de investigación] and 6 five-year teaching periods [quinquenios de docencia]. I have supervised 20 PhD theses (5 with Extraordinary Prize and 3 with International Mention; 14 of them from 2011 to 2023) and another 3 are in progress. I have also been the Principal Investigator of several funded research projects (four times under the National R+D+I Plan from Spanish Ministry of Science and Innovation) and research contracts with companies and institutions. I have published a total of 74 articles in journals indexed in the Web of Science Core Collection publications, which have accumulated a total of 1,608 citations to date. My H-index in Web of Science is 18.