She received her doctoral degree in psychology with highest honours from the University of Tartu in 1999. After completing her doctoral studies, she worked for two years as a post-doctoral research fellow at the Katholieke Universiteit Leuven, Belgium. Upon return to Estonia, she worked as Associate Professor and Senior Research Fellow in the Department of Psychology, University of Tartu for about 10 years. In 2012, she was awarded a prestigious Academy Research Professor position by the Estonian Academy Sciences for the period 2013-2015. In 2014-2019, she held a position of Professor of Personality and Social Psychology at the University of Tartu. In addition to those positions, she has been a Fellow-in-Residence at two institutes for advanced study: at the Swedish Collegium for Advanced Study in Uppsala and at the Netherlands Institute for Advanced Study.
Research interests
Anu Realo's background is in personality and cross-cultural psychology and she has conducted considerable research on the fundamental nature of personality traits, the definition and conceptualization of subjective well-being, and on the nature of cultural characteristics, such as individualism-collectivism, social capital, and tightness-looseness. The focus of her recent academic work has been examining the genetics of personality traits, as well as the complex relationships among personality, health, and subjective wellbeing. Much of her research has been carried out through collaborative efforts with colleagues from many different universities all over the world. In total, she has published approximately 150 papers or book chapters, mostly in high quality peer-reviewed international journals. For several years, she was among the world's top 1% most highly cited researchers in psychology.
Other professional activities
In addition to research and teaching, she has had numerous administrative and professional responsibilities. During the years 2012-2015, she served as the Vice-Chair of the Evaluation Board of the For more than ten years, she was actively involved in the European Social Survey – first as a Board Member of the National Committee for the ESS, and later as a country representative in the ESS Scientific Advisory Board and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of the ESS ERIC. Among other duties, she served as an action editor for the Journal of Individual Differences from 2009 to 2013 and was one of the Associate Editors of the European Journal of Personality. Since 2012, she is the Principal Investigator for the World Values Survey in Estonia. In 2018, she was elected to the Presidency of the .
Honours and awards
In 2010, Anu Realo was awarded the distinguished National Science Award of the Republic of Estonia in social sciences for her studies on personality and stereotypes from a cross-cultural perspective. In February 2016, she was awarded the Order of the White Star by the President of Estonia for outstanding contribution to the Estonian state, which is primarily a testament to her academic achievements. She is a member of the Estonian Academy of Sciences. She was listed among the top 12 most outstanding Estonian women in the world 2016 by Estonian World.
