Biography
Brent W. Roberts is a Professor of Psychology and at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Dr. Roberts received his Ph.D. from Berkeley in 1994 in Personality Psychology and worked at the University of Tulsa until 1999 when he joined the faculty at Illinois. Dr. Roberts's research has focused on determining the replicable patterns of continuity and change in personality traits across adulthood, the life experiences associated with changes in personality traits over time, and the significance of these changes for individual functioning. Dr. Roberts also conducts research on psychometric issues, in particular how to measure the traits of conscientiousness and narcissism, and more recently, how to best assess socio-emotional skills.
He has received multiple awards for his work including the Carol and Ed Diener Mid-Career Award in Personality Psychology, the Theodore Millon Mid-Career Award in Personality Psychology, the Henry Murray Award, the Jack Block Award for Distinguished Research in Personality, and an Honorary Doctorate from the University of Basel. He served as the Director of the Center for Social and Behavioral Science, Associate Editor for the Journal of Research in Personality and Psychological Science and is the Past President for the Association for Research in Personality.
Research Interests
- Personality Development
- Personality Assessment
- Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skills
- Conscientiousness
- Narcissism
Research Description
Dr. Roberts's primary line of research is dedicated to understanding the patterns of continuity and change in personality across the decades of adulthood and the mechanisms that affect these patterns. Dr. Roberts has a second line of research on personality assessment. This research line includes studies focusing on the meaning and scope of the trait of conscientiousness and narcissism, the relationship between conscientiousness and the health process, how best to assess social and emotional skills, and using machine learning and artificial intelligence systems to assess personality.
Education
Ph.D. University of California, Berkeley
Additional Campus Affiliations
Senior Science Advisor, Office of the Provost
Affiliate, Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology
Recent Publications
Bleidorn, W., Schwaba, T., Zheng, A., Hopwood, C. J., Sosa, S. S., Roberts, B. W., & Briley, D. A. (Accepted/In press). Personality Stability and Change: A Meta-Analysis of Longitudinal Studies. Psychological bulletin. https://doi.org/10.1037/bul0000365
Lechner, C. M., Knopf, T., Napolitano, C. M., Rammstedt, B., Roberts, B. W., Soto, C. J., & Spengler, M. (2022). The Behavioral, Emotional, and Social Skills Inventory (BESSI): Psychometric Properties of a German-Language Adaptation, Temporal Stabilities of the Skills, and Associations with Personality and Intelligence. Journal of Intelligence, 10(3). https://doi.org/10.3390/jintelligence10030063
Luo, J., Zhang, B., Willroth, E. C., Mroczek, D. K., & Roberts, B. W. (2022). The Roles of General and Domain-Specific Perceived Stress in Healthy Aging. Journals of Gerontology - Series B Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences, 77(3), 536-549. https://doi.org/10.1093/geronb/gbab134
Luo, J., Zhang, B., Cao, M., & Roberts, B. W. (Accepted/In press). The Stressful Personality: A Meta-Analytical Review of the Relation Between Personality and Stress. Personality and Social Psychology Review. https://doi.org/10.1177/10888683221104002
Rieger, S., Göllner, R., Spengler, M., Trautwein, U., Nagengast, B., & Roberts, B. W. (2022). The persistence of students’ academic effort: The unique and combined effects of conscientiousness and individual interest. Learning and Instruction, 80, [101613]. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.learninstruc.2022.101613
