Personal profile
Personal profile
Brent W. Roberts is a Professor of Psychology in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois, in the Social-Personality-Organizational Division. 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 the University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign. He received the J. S. Tanaka Dissertation Award for methodological and substantive contributions to the field of personality psychology in 1995. He has since been awarded the Carol and Ed Diener Mid-Career award in Personality Psychology, The Theodore Millon Mid-Career award in Personality Psychology, the Henry Murray Award, and was recently acknowledged by Thomson Reuters as a highly cited researcher for 2016 & 2017 and received an Honorary Doctorate of Psychology from the University of Basel. He has served as the Associate Editor for the Journal of Research in Personality, and Psychological Science, as a member-at-large, Executive Officer, and President for the Association for Research in Personality, as a member of the Data Monitoring Committee of the Health and Retirement Study, and on the Editorial Boards of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, Personality and Social Psychology Review, and Perspectives on Psychological Science. He is currently the Chair of the Social and Behavioral Sciences Research Initiative at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign.
Professional Information
- Personality Development
- Personality Assessment
- Personality and Health
- Conscientiousness
URL
- Links
- Publications
- google scholar profile
- Personality Interest Group Including Espresso (PIG-IE)
- Personality Assessment and Development Lab
- Personality Development
- Conscientiousness
- How conscientious are you?
- How narcissistic are you?
- Free online personality tests
- Psych 541 spring 2019 reading list
- Grad personality syllabus repository
Research Interests
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 the relationship between conscientiousness and the health process, the utility of contextualized assessments of personality, and the use of IRT in personality assessment.
Education/Academic qualification
Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley
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- 1 Similar Profiles
Collaborations and top research areas from the last five years
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Experiental features of volunteering predict changes in college students’ social, emotional, and behavioral skills
Sewell, M. N., Napolitano, C. M., Yoon, H. J., Soto, C. J. & Roberts, B. W., Apr 2026, In: Journal of Research in Personality. 121, 104705.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Once a procrastinator, always a procrastinator? Examining stability, change, and long-term correlates of procrastination during young adulthood.
Bäulke, L., Roberts, B. W., Nagengast, B. & Trautwein, U., Mar 2026, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of personality and social psychology.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
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Applying the Sociogenomic Model of Personality to Organizational Psychology
Roberts, B. & Bonner, C., Oct 2025, In: Journal of Organizational Behavior. 46, 8, p. 1162-1166 5 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Editorial › peer-review
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Assessing Social, Emotional, and Behavioral Skills in Just a Few Minutes: 96-, 45-, and 20-Item Short Forms of the BESSI
Sewell, M. N., Yoon, H. J., Lechner, C. M., Napolitano, C. M., Rammstedt, B., Roberts, B. W. & Soto, C. J., Jun 2025, In: Assessment. 32, 4, p. 501-520 20 p.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access -
Beyond age and generations: How considering period effects reshapes our understanding of personality change.
Roemer, L., Bonner, C. V., Rammstedt, B., Gosling, S. D., Potter, J. & Roberts, B. W., Jun 26 2025, (E-pub ahead of print) In: Journal of personality and social psychology.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article › peer-review
Open Access
Press/Media
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Twelve Illinois scientists rank among the world’s most influential
Guan, K., Hoffmann, A. F., Jain, A., Lawson, T., Ort, D. R., Roberts, B. W., Sun, J., Zhao, B., Zhao, H. & Zhao, L.
11/14/25
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Press / Media
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Center for Advanced Study appoints seven professors to permanent faculty
Ainsworth, E., Denmark, S. E., Flaws, J. A., Fritzsche, P. A., Gropp, W. D., Neville, H. A. & Roberts, B. W.
12/18/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Press / Media
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Six Illinois scientists rank among world's most influential
Guan, K., Hoffmann, A. F., Jain, A., Long, S. P. & Roberts, B. W.
11/19/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Press / Media
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Report: Conscientiousness, not willpower, is a reliable predictor of success
9/10/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Research
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U. of I. names new endowed chairs, professorships
Freeburg, C., Ruggles, D. F., Gammie, C. F., Imlay, J. A., Nahrstedt, K., Leakey, A., Oliver, C., Roberts, B. W. & Mouza, C.
1/11/24
1 Media contribution
Press/Media: Press / Media