Gustavo Carlo

Biography

Gustavo Carlo, Ph.D., is Professor in the School of Education at the University of California, Irvine, where he also serves as Director and Founder of the Cultural Resiliency and Learning Center and Equity Advisor. Carlo received his Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology from Arizona State University in 1994. His research examines prosocial and moral development in culturally diverse youth, with particular focus on U.S. Latino/a populations, exploring how parenting practices, cultural values, and sociocognitive mechanisms shape positive social behaviors across development.

Carlo has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters, and has edited several influential volumes including The Oxford Handbook of Parenting and Moral Development and Prosocial Development: A Multidimensional Approach. His work has been funded by the National Science Foundation, National Institutes of Health, and other federal agencies. Carlo developed widely-used measures of prosocial tendencies and prosocial moral reasoning that have been translated into numerous languages and adopted internationally. His scholarship has appeared in journals such as Child Development, Developmental Psychology, and Journal of Research on Adolescence.

Carlo is an elected member of the Society for Research in Child Development Governing Council and a Fellow of the American Psychological Association and American Psychological Society. He has served as Associate Editor for Developmental Psychology, Child Development, and Journal of Research on Adolescence. Carlo has mentored over 40 doctoral students and postdoctoral fellows who now hold faculty and research positions at universities across the United States and internationally. He was recognized as a Fulbright Specialist and ranked among the world's top 2% of scientists in developmental and child psychology by Stanford University and Elsevier Publishing.

Education

• Ph.D. in Developmental Psychology, Arizona State University, 1994
• M.A. in Developmental Psychology, Arizona State University, 1991
• B.A. in Psychology, Florida International University, 1986
• A.A. in Chemistry, Miami-Dade Community College, 1982

Distinctions

• Lifetime Highly Ranked Scholar in Prosocial Behavior (#2), Adolescence (#59), Five-Year Highly Ranked Scholar in Latino/a Research (#2). ScholarGPS, 2025
• Fulbright Specialist, U.S. Department of State, 2024-2027
• World's Top 2% Scientists in Psychology. Ranked #144 in Developmental and Child Psychology in 2024, Stanford University/Elsevier Publishing, 2024
• Fellow, Association of State Provincial Psychology Boards Examination Committee, American Psychological Association, 2016-2020
• Fellow, American Psychological Society, 2014
• Fellow, Division 7, American Psychological Association, 2014
• Outstanding Senior Mentor, Society for Research on Adolescence, 2018
• Most Prolific Scholar in Prosocial Behavior, Journal of Cognitive Sciences and Human Development, 2022
• Chancellor's Inclusive Excellence Award, University of California, Irvine, 2020-2022