2025

► Keynote talk at International Conference on Emerging Trends in Psychological Wellbeing, University of Namibia
Amber Gayle Thalmayer
October, 2025

► Invited talk in the Association for Psychological Science: Challenges to developing a global psychological science
Amber Gayle Thalmayer
October 22, 2025

► Invited speaker at University of Zurich Healthy Longevity Innovation Days
Amber Gayle Thalmayer
June 5, 2025 

► Featured speaker, Challenges and Opportunities in Global Mental Health at Universitätsspital Basel
June 3, 2025

► Keynote talk for 7th Annual meeting of Society for the Cognitive Science of Culture
April 27, 2025

► Symposium at the 2025 SPSP Annual Convention, Denver
"Lessons from Africa: Cognition, Emotion, Values, and Intergroup Relations"
with Shinobu Kitayama, Tosin Olonisakin and Cristina Salvador
February 20-22, 2025

► Advances in Cultural Psychology Pre-Conference of the Society of Personality and Social Psychology Meeting Denver Colorado
Amber Gayle Thalmayer
February 19, 2025

2024

► Symposium at the Psychological Society of South Africa’s Annual Psychology Congress in Johannesburg, South Africa
“The Africa Long Life Study: lifespan research in Kenya, Namibia and South Africa”
October, 2024
Chaired by Amber Gayle Thalmayer, included multiple talks;

• Thalmayer A.G. “The Africa Long Life Study: lifespan research in the majority world”

• Uugwanga, S.N. “Markers of adulthood in Sub-Saharan Africa: contextualized findings

• Hofmann, D. “The assessment and structure of psychopathology among emerging adults in Southern and Eastern Africa ”

• Chopdat, S. “Contextual impacts on anxiety and wellbeing amongst emerging adults in South Africa: evidence from the ALLS study ”

• Kura, M. “Personality traits in the Africa Long Life Study: culturally-de-centered approaches for assessing individual differences in African contexts”

► Invited roundtable discussion on “African cultural models in psychology” at the Psychological Society of South Africa’s Annual Psychology Congress, Johannesburg, South Africa
Amber Gayle Thalmayer & Sumaya Laher
October, 2024

► Guest lecture at the launch of the IDEaS Interdisciplinary Hub for Identity Research, University of the Free State, South Africa
Luzelle Naudé
2024

► Multiple talks at PsySSA’s 30th Anniversary Annual South African Psychology Congress, Johannesburg, South Africa
October 2024

• Shirima C. M., Maso, E., Molumo, K., Sokhaya, L., Viti, Z., Thalmayer, A. G., & Naudé, L.: Instability, possibility, and responsibility: Experiences of emerging adults in Kenya, Namibia and South Africa

• Shirima, C. M., Naudé, L., & Thalmayer, A. G.: Youth in action: Empowering and building resilient youth. 

► UMTHOMBO LECTURE SERIES:
"The Africa Long Life Study: Early Results from a longitudinal Study of Personality and Mental Health Among Young Adults in Namibia, Kenya, and South Africa”.
Amber Gayle Thalmayer
2024

► European Conference on Personality, Berlin
“Personality Research in the Africa Long Life Study” in symposium “Keynote - Presidential Address: Personality Science Around the World”
Amber Gayle Thalmayer &  Stephen Asatsa
August, 2024

► Symposium at the European Conference on Personality, Berlin
“Early Results from the Africa Long Life Study”
August, 2024,
Chaired by Amber Gayle Thalmayer & Marie Kura with multiple talks;

• Uugwanga, S.N. “Introduction to the Africa Long Life Study”

• Kura, M. “The HEXACO in Kenya, Namibia, and South Africa”

• Hofmann, D. “The assessment and structure of psychopathology among young adults in Namibia, Kenya, and South Africa”

• Asatsa, S. “Proneness to Aggress in Kenya and Namibia: The role of Culture of Honor Logic among Young Adults from diverse groups”

► Poster presented at the Masterstudierenden- und Doktorierenden-Kongress 2024, University of Zurich, Switzerland
The structure of psychopathology in Namibia, Kenya and South Africa is almost the same
Daniel Hofmann, Christopher J. Hopwood & Amber Gayle Thalmayer
May, 2024

► Invited address at Conference on The Role of Culture in the Exploration of Post-Trauma Suffering, Collegium Helveticum
“Emic and Etic Approaches to Assess Trauma Related Symptoms in Namibia, South Africa, and Kenya”
Amber Gayle Thalmayer & Daniel Hofmann
April 23–24, 2024

► Symposium “Advances in Cultural Psychology beyond the West” at the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, San Diego
"The Africa Long Life Study: Cohort Description and Preliminary Findings”
Amber Gayle Thalmayer
February, 2024

2023

► Symposium at the 27th Annual South African Psychology Congress, Johannesburg
"The Africa Long Life Study: An African-centered exploration of the mental health and wellbeing of emerging adults."
Chaired by Luzelle Naudé and Amber Gayle Thalmayer
October 2023

► Presentation given at the 27th Annual South Africa Psychology Congress, Johannesburg, South Africa
“The Africa Long Life Study: An African-centered exploration of the mental health and well-being of emerging adults”
Amber Gayle Thalmayer
October 4-6, 2023

► Presentation given at the Regional European Conference of the International Association for Cross-Cultural Psychology (IACCP), Limerick, Ireland
“Ubuntu/harambee among emerging adults in Namibia and Kenya”
Julia Rotzinger, Amber Gayle Thalmayer
August 4, 2023

► Early Career Award Talk given at the Association for Research in Personality annual meeting
"Including the Majority World in Lifespan Research: The Africa Long Life Study.”
Amber Gayle Thalmayer
July 21, 2023  

► Keynote talk given at the  17. Arbeitstagung der Fachgruppe Differentielle Psychologie, Persönlichkeitspsychologie und Psychologische Diagnostik (DPPD) in der Deutschen Gesellschaft für Psychologie
“Psychological assessment in the majority world”
Amber Gayle Thalmayer

► Presentation given at The Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood 11TH Conference on Emerging adulthood in sub-Saharan Africa: An insight into Namibia, Kenya, and South Africa, San Diego, CA
"Becoming an Adult in Namibia: An emerging adult perspective among the Owambo ethnicity”
Selma Uugwanga & Amber Gayle Thalmayer
June 16, 2023

► Presentation given at The Society for the Study of Emerging Adulthood 11TH Conference on Emerging Adulthood Emerging Scholars Work-in-Progress pre-conference workshop, San Diego, CA
"Markers of Adulthood in Sub-Saharan Africa: contextualized findings”
Selma Uugwanga & Amber Gayle Thalmayer
June 15, 2023

► Talk given at Evolutionary Psychiatry: From Theory to Therapy' mini-symposium, University of Zürich
"Assessing Personality and Mental Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: Etc and epic approaches for comparison and contextualisation”
Amber Gayle Thalmayer
May 15, 2023

2022

► Poster presented at the Swiss Psychological Society Conference, University of Zurich, Switzerland
“Ubuntu/botho: A qualitative exploration in Namibia, Kenya, and South Africa”
Julia Rotzinger & Amber Gayle Thalmayer
September 2022

► Talk given at the Swiss Psychological Society Conference, University of Zurich, Switzerland
“Mental health and religious and spiritual protective factors in Namibia, Kenya and South Africa”
Daniel Hofmann & Amber Gayle Thalmayer
September 2022

Kura, M., Rentsch, K., & Thalmayer, A. G. (2025). Big Six Personality Traits in the Africa Long Life Study. Journal of Research on Personality, 117, 104603, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jrp.2025.104603

Uugwanga, S.N., Naudé, L., & Thalmayer, A.G.  Becoming an Ovambo Adult: Growing into Agentic Communalism in Sub-Saharan Africa. Psychological Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/09567976241311920

Rotzinger, J.S., Jensen, L.A. & Thalmayer, A.G. Ubuntu in Namibia and Kenya: How emerging adults live an essential African value today. Journal of Cross Cultural Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1177/00220221241309863

Thalmayer, A. G., Maher, K. A., Saucier, G., Naudé, L., Shino, E. N., Asatsa, S., Florence, M., Witzlack-Makarevich, A., Bächlin, L. M., & Condon, D. (2024) The Cross-Cultural Big Two: A Culturally De-Centered Theoretical and Measurement Model for Personality Traits. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. https://doi.org/10.1037/pspp0000528

Thalmayer, A. G., Asatsa, S., Shino, E. N., Naudé, L., Laher, S., Hassem, T., Florence, M., Adonis, T.-A., Uugwanga, S. N., Rotzinger, J. S., Hofmann, D., Makunda, J., Botha, C., Murangi, A., & Shirima, C. M. (2024). Lifespan Research in Kenya, Namibia, and South Africa: Cohort Profile of the Africa Long Life Study. Personality Science. https://doi.org/10.1177/27000710241264492

Furrer, A., Hofmann, D., & Thalmayer, A. G. (2024, April 25). Talking Mental Health with Kenyan Youth: Cognitive Interviews on the International Mental Health Assessment. https://doi.org/10.31234/osf.io/kyb3x

Florence, M., Adonis, T., Botha, C., Mpisane, N., Thalmayer, A. G., & Naude, L. (2023). An International Longitudinal Research Project Investigating the Psychological Development of Young Adults in South Africa: Managing Attrition. https://www.zora.uzh.ch/id/eprint/233600/

Sofie Kunzle (UZH 2025), “Assessing Negative Emotionality in Sub-Saharan Africa”

Erica Mae Lavilla (UZH 2025), “Idioms of distress in psychological assessment in Sub-Saharan Africa”  

Sanaa Bladh (UZH 2024), “Relational Mobility in Sub-Saharan Africa”

Pascale Rouilly (UZH 2024)"Higher Education and Career Plans Among Young Namibian Adults: Exploring the Unique Shape of Emerging Adulthood"

Michelle Rahm (UZH 2024), "Gender Differences in Mental Health in Sub-Saharan Africa: Prevalence and Development among Young Adults in Kenya, Namibia and South Africa"

Lia Jenal (UZH 2024), "Dimensions of Emerging Adulthood in Namibia: Individual Development through Communal Values"

John Makunda (The Catholic University of Eastern Africa, 2024), "Unveiling Longitudinal Patterns in International Mental Health Assessments: A Systematic Evaluation of Clustering Techniques."
Supervisors: Hellen Waititu & Cornelius Nyakundi.

Matsidiso Bambo (University of the Witwatersrand 2024), “Depression Demographic Profiling of Young Adults in South Africa.” Supervisor: Tasneem Hassem.

Elena Orsi (UZH 2024), “The Ethics of Autonomy, Community, and Divinity in Namibian Youth: An Examination of Guiding Moral Values and the Impact of Globalization.” Supervisors: Lene Arnett Jensen & Amber Gayle Thalmayer.

Franka Schneider (UZH 2023), “Ubuntu/Harambee: A qualitative exploration in Namibia. Reflection of Ubuntu/Harambee in young adults' lives.” Supervisors: Julia Rotzinger & Amber Gayle Thalmayer.

David Schröder (UZH 2023), “Socio-economic status and mental health in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Supervisors: Julia Rotzinger & Amber Gayle Thalmayer.

Lilly Schmidt-Tophoff (UZH 2023), “The Role of Religiosity in the Mental Health Among 18-Year-Olds in Sub-Saharan Africa.” Supervisors: Daniel Hofmann & Amber Gayle Thalmayer.

Myrjam Suter (UZH 2023), “Markers of Adulthood of Emerging Adults in Namibia: Psychometric Testing, Endorsement, and Attainment of the Markers of Adulthood (MoA) Scale.” Supervisors: Selma Uugwanga & Amber Gayle Thalmayer.

William Viella Martins (University of Bern 2023), "A cross-culturally convergent personality model of three dimensions." Supervisors: Amber Gayle Thalmayer & Stephen Troche.

Aleyna Ekinci (UZH 2022), “The experience of ‘pain in the heart’ and its relations to major depressive disorder.” Supervisors: Daniel Hofmann & Amber Gayle Thalmayer.

Christoph Flückinger (UZH 2022), “Motivations for alcohol consumption among young adults in Namibia - A comparison across Oshiwambo speakers.” Supervisors: Selma Uugwanga & Amber Gayle Thalmayer.

Gayong Son (Universität Basel 2022), “Measurement Invariance of the Satisfaction with Life Scale in Three Languages of Namibia.” Supervisors: Amber Gayle Thalmayer & Roselind Lieb.

Milena Claudius (Universität Bern 2022), “Still Standing Inside: Local Idioms of Trauma among Namibian Speakers of Khoekhoegowab.” Supervisors: Amber Gayle Thalmayer & Thomas Berger.

Daniel Hofmann, University of Zurich, “Making Global Mental Health More Global: The Structure of Psychopathology and Local Protective Factors in Kenya, Namibia and South Africa” 
defended August 12, 2025

Julia Rotzinger, University of Zurich, “African Perspectives in Psychology and the Importance of Culturally Relevant Research”
defended  February 27, 2025