Adversity and Growth

Do you need to suffer in order to build character? This is commonly discussed in lay theories of development, but we found no evidence to support it in a longitudinal study of 682 youth (Bonner et al., 2025). About 80% of the youth who increased in effortful control or emotional stability (>/= 1/5th of a SD) were not exposed to high levels of (observer-rated) adversity. Going forward, we should look elsewhere for life experiences that are robustly associated with growth and maturation. For example, instead of exogenous stressors, self-selected challenges and goals may be more reliably associated with maturation (Bonner & Roberts, 2023). 

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The Development of Self-Control

Momentary “state” assessments of self-control have been found to be negatively associated with trait measures (Hofmann et al., 2012), and don't always replicate trait-outcome associations (Milyavskaya & Inzlicht, 2017). This discrepancy challenges mechanistic models of the link between state and trait development (e.g., Wrzus & Roberts, 2017), which could have implications for the design and implementation of skill interventions. In-progress research aims to advance our understanding of self-regulatory development through intensive longitudinal assessments of state and trait self-control at different timescales. 

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Maladaptive Conscientiousness

Conscientiousness is robustly associated with desirable life outcomes, such as longevity, physical health, educational attainment, and occupational success (Bogg & Roberts, 2004; Damian et al., 2015; Heckman et al., 2006; Moffitt et al., 2011; Wilmot & Ones, 2019). However, the possibility that extreme levels of conscientiousness may be maladaptive has long interested scholars in industrial-organizational psychology, clinical psychology, public health, and basic personality psychology. I am currently conducting a series of studies to comprehensively compare the main measures of maladaptive conscientiousness from across psychology to better understand when they are associated with maladaptive outcome variables.