Profile

Dan P. McAdams Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence Director, The Foley Center for the Study of Lives Professor, Psychology Professor, Human Development and Social Policy Annenberg Hall Room 209 2120 Campus Drive Evanston, IL 60208-0001 Phone: (847) 491-4174

Biography

    Dan P. McAdams is Professor of Psychology and Professor of Human Development and Social Policy at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL.  Professor McAdams received his B.S. degree from Valparaiso University in 1976 and his Ph.D. in Psychology and Social Relations from Harvard University in 1979.  Honored as a Charles Deering McCormick Professor of Teaching Excellence at Northwestern, Professor McAdams teaches courses in Personality Psychology, Adult Development and Aging, Theories of Personality and Development, and the Literatures of Identity and Generativity. 

    Author of over 150 articles and chapters and 14 books, Professor McAdams works in the areas of personality and life-span developmental psychology.  His theoretical and empirical writings focus on concepts of self and identity in contemporary American society and on themes of power, intimacy, redemption, and generativity across the adult life course.  In many of his writings, Professor McAdams develops a life-story theory of identity, which argues that modern adults provide their lives with a sense of unity and purpose by constructing and refining self-defining life stories or “personal myths.”  Professor McAdams is a leader in the recent emergence within the social sciences of narrative approaches to studying human lives – approaches that place stories and storytelling at the center of human personality.  Over the past decade, Professor McAdams and his students have examined the concept of “generativity” – the adult’s concern for and commitment to the next generation – through both quantitative surveys and qualitative analyses of life stories.  He has been funded by major grants from The Spencer Foundation to investigate the meanings and manifestations of generativity in the lives and life stories of African-American and Euro-American adults – in a project entitled, “Generativity in Black and White.”  Beginning in 1997, he continues to be funded by the Foley Family Foundation to establish the Foley Center for the Study of Lives at Northwestern University. Professor McAdams is also the author of a leading textbook in personality psychology, The Person (Wiley).

    Most recently, Professor McAdams is the author of The Redemptive Self: Stories Americans Live By (Oxford University Press, 2006).  Integrating research he and his students have conducted over the past 15 years, The Redemptive Self charts a new psychology of American identity as expressed in cultural and historical American texts and images and in the life stories of caring and productive American adults in their midlife years.  The book won the 2006 William James Award from the American Psychological Association for best general-interest book in psychology, across all subfields.  It also recently earned Professor McAdams the 2006 Theodore Sarbin Award from the American Psychological Association for its contribution to theoretical and philosophical psychology.

    Professor McAdams is also the 1989 winner of the Henry A. Murray Award from the American Psychological Association, for his work on personality and the study of lives. With Ruthellen Josselson and Amia Lieblich, he is co-editor of the book series, The Narrative Study of Lives (APA Press).  He is a Fellow of the American Psychological Association (Division 8) and the American Psychological Society, has served on the Executive Committee of the Society for Personality and Social Psychology, and is a founding member of the Association for Research in Personality.  His work has been featured in many national publications and media outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, USA Today, Newsweek, Psychology Today, Self magazine, and Good Morning America.

Curriculum Vitae

View Dan McAdams's CV.

Websites

The Redemptive Self: Stories Americans Live By

Awards/Honors

2008 - Theodore Sarbin Award Committee for the American Psychological Association

2008 - Doctor of Humane Letters (honoris causa) - Honorary Degree, Valparaiso University

2007 - The Jack Block Award Committee

2007 - New York Times; Work featured in “Birth Order: I am Worm, Hear Me Roar,” by Benedict Carey (July 1, 2007)

2007 - New York Times; Work featured in “This is Your Life, and How You Tell It,” by Benedict Carey (May 22, 2007)

2007 - Editorial Board, Theory and Psychology

2007 - I am a regular reviewer of manuscripts – probably 20 this past year – for many different journals and publishers, including especially Psychological Bulletin and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and also for leading grant agencies, such as NIMH and SSHRC.

2007 - Association of American Publishers Award for Excellence in Professional and Scholarly Publishing in the area of “Psychology and Cognitive Science"

2007 - Editorial Board, Motivation and Emotion

2007 - Editorial Board, Psychological Inquiry

2007 - The Edward Diener Award Committee

2006 - Editorial Board, Theory and Psychology

2006 - The Theodore Sarbin Award, from Division 24 of the American Psychological Association, for contribut

2006 - The William James Award, from the American Psychological Association, for best book published in psy

2005 - Editorial Board, Motivation and Emotion

2005 - Richard Kalish Innovative Publication Award, Gerontological Society of America, with Karen S. Hooker

2001 - Editorial Board, Psychological Inquiry

1995 - Editorial Board, Personality and Social Psychology Review

Research/Scholarship
Education

Year		Degree		Institution
1979		PhD, Psychology and Social Relations		Harvard University
1976		BS, Psychology and Humanities		Valparaiso University

Selected Publications

McAdams, D. P. (2009). The person: An introduction to the science of personality psychology (5th Ed.). Wiley.

McAdams, D. P. (2008). Personal narratives and the life story in John, O., Robins, R., & Pervin, L. A., Handbook of personality: Theory and research: 241-261.
( Download )

McAdams, D. P. (2008). Foreword in H. A. Murray, Explorations in personality: 70th anniversary edition: vii-xxxvi.
( Download )

McAdams, D. P., Albaugh, M., Farber, E., Daniels, J., Logan, R. L., & Olson, B. (2008). Family metaphors and moral intuitions: How conservatives and liberals narrate their lives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: 95, 978-990.
( Download )

McAdams, D. P. (2008). American identity: The redemptive self. The General Psychologist: 43, 20-27.
( Download )

Bauer, J. J., McAdams, D. P., & Pals, J. L. (2008). Narrative identity and eudaimonic well-being.. Journal of Happiness Studies: 9, 81-104.
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McAdams, D. P., & Albaugh, M. (2008). What if there were no God? Politically conservative and liberal Christians imagine their lives without faith.. Journal of Research in Personality: 1668-1672.

Adler, J. M., Skalina, L. M., & McAdams, D. P. (2008). The narrative reconstruction of psychotherapy and psychological health.. Psychotherapy Research: 719-734.

McAdams, D. P. (2008). Generativity, the redemptive self, and the problem of a “noisy” ego in American life. in Wayment, H. and Bauer, J. J. (Eds.), Transcending self-interest: Psychological explorations of the quiet ego: 235-241.

McAdams, D. P. (2008). Foreword in H. A. Murray, Explorations in personality: 70th anniversary edition (reissue of 1938): vii-xxxvi.

Adler, J., & McAdams, D. P. (2007). Telling stories about therapy: Ego development, well-being, and the healing relationship in R. Josselson, A. Lieblich, and D. P. McAdams, The meaning of others: Narrative studies of relationships: 213-236.
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Josselson, R., Lieblich, A., & McAdams, D. P. (Eds.) (2007). The meaning of others: Narrative studies of relationships. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Press.

McAdams, D. P. (2007). On grandiosity in personality psychology. American Psychologist, 62: 60-61.

Adler, J., Wagner, J., & McAdams, D. P. (2007). Personality and the coherence of psychotherapy narratives. Journal of Research in Personality, 41: 1179-1198.

Adler, J., & McAdams, D. P. (2007). Time, culture, and stories of the self. Psychological Inquiry, 18: 97-99.

McAdams, D. P., & Pals, J. L. (2007). The role of theory in personality research in R. Robins, C. Fraley, and R. Krueger (Eds.), Handbook of research methods in personality psychology: 3-20.

McAdams, D. P. (2007). Autobiographical narratives in R. F. Baumeister and K. D. Vohs (Eds.), Encyclopedia of social psychology: Vol. 1, pp. 83-85.

McAdams, D. P. (2006). The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by. Oxford University Press.

McAdams, D. P., Josselson, R., & Lieblich, A. (2006). Identity and story: Creating self in narrative. APA Books.

McAdams, D. P., & Pals, J. L. (2006). A new Big Five: Fundamental principles for an integrative science of personality. American Psychologist: 204-217.
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McAdams, D. P., Bauer, J. J., Sakaeda, A., Anyidoho, N. A., Machado, M., Magrino, K., White, K. W., & Pals, J. L (2006). Continuity and change in the life story: A longitudinal study of autobiographical memories in emerging adulthood. . Journal of Personality: 1371-1400.
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McAdams, D. P. (2006). The redemptive self: Generativity and the stories Americans live by. Research in Human Development: 81-100.
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Adler, J., Kissel, E., & McAdams, D. P. (2006). Emerging from the CAVE: Attributional style and the narrative study of identity in midlife adults. Cognitive Therapy and Research: 39-51.
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McAdams, D. P. (2006). The role of narrative in personality psychology today. Narrative Inquiry: 11-18.
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McAdams, D. P. (2006). The problem of narrative coherence. Journal of Constructivist Psychology: 109-125.
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McAdams, D. P., & Logan, R. L. (2006). Creative work, love, and the dialectic in selected life stories of academics. in D. P. McAdams, R. Josselson, and A. Lieblich , Identity and story: Creating self in narrative : 89-108.

McAdams, D. P., & Adler, J. (2006). How does personality develop? in D. Mroczek and T. Little (Eds.), The handbook of personality development : 469-492.
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McAdams, D. P (2006). An American life story. in M. R. Schwehn and D. C. Bass (Eds.), Leading lives that matter: What we should do and who we should be : 471-480.

Bauer, J. J., McAdams, D. P., & Sakaeda, A. (2005). Interpreting the good life: Growth memories in the lives of mature, happy people.. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: 88, 203-217..
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Bauer, J. J., McAdams, D. P., & Sakaeda, A. R (2005). The crystallization of desire and crystallization of discontent in narratives of life-changing decisions. Journal of Personality: 73, 1181-1213.
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McAdams, D. P (2005). What psychobiographers might learn from personality psychology in W. T. Schultz (Ed.), Handbook of psychobiography: (pp. 64-83).
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McAdams, D. P (2005). A psychologist without a country, or living two lives in the same story in G. Yancy and S. Hadley (Eds.), Narrative identities: Psychologists engaged in self-construction: (pp. 114-130).
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Bauer, J. J., & McAdams, D. P. (2004). Growth goals, maturity, and well-being.. Developmental Psychology: 40, 114-127..
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De St. Aubin, E., McAdams, D.P., & Kim, T.C. (Eds.) (2004). The generative society. American Psychological Association Press.

Lieblich, A., McAdams, D. P., & Josselson, R. (Eds.). (2004). Healing plots: The narrative basis of psychotherapy.. American Psychological Association Press..

McAdams, D. P., Anyidoho, N. A., Brown, C., Huang, Y. T., Kaplan, B., & Machado, M. A. (2004). Traits and stories: Links between dispositional and narrative features of personality.. Journal of Personality: 72, 761-784..
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Bauer, J. J., & McAdams, D. P. (2004). Personal growth in adults' stories of voluntary life transitions.. Journal of Personality: 72, 573-602..
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Josselson, R., Lieblich, A., & McAdams, D. P. (Eds.). (2003). Up close and personal: The teaching and learning of narrative research.. American Psychological Association Press..

Hooker, K. S., & McAdams, D. P. (2003). Personality reconsidered: A new agenda for aging research.. Journal of Gerontology: Psychological Sciences: 58B, P396-P304..
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McAdams, D. P., Josselson, R., & Lieblcih, A. (Eds.). (2001). Turns in the road: Narrative studies of lives in transition.. American Psychological Association Press..

McAdams, D. P. (2001). The psychology of life stories. Review of General Psychology: 5, 100-122..
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McAdams, D. P. (2001). Generativity in midlife. in M. Lachman (Ed.)., Handbook of midlife development.: 395-443..
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McAdams, D.P., & de St. Aubin, E. (Eds.) (1998). Generativity and Adult Development: How and Why We Care for the Next Generation. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association Press.

McAdams, D. P., Diamond, A., de St. Aubin, E., & Mansfield, E. D. (1997). Stories of commitment: The psychosocial construction of generative lives.. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: 72, 678-694..
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McAdams, D. P. (1997). A conceptual history of personality psychology. in R. Hogan, J. Johnson, S. Briggs (Eds.)., Handbook of personality psychology.: 3-39.
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McAdams, D. P. (1996). Personality, modernity, and the storied self: A contemporary framework for studying persons.. Psychological Inquiry: 7, 295-321..
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McAdams, D. P. (1995). What do we know when we know a person?. Journal of Personality: 63, 363-396..
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McAdams, D. P., Josselson, R., & Lieblcih, A. (Eds.). (1993). The stories we live by.. Guilford Press..

McAdams, D. P. (1992). The five-factor model in personality: A critical appraisal.. Journal of Personality: 60, 329-361..
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McAdams, D. P., & de St. Aubin, E. (1992). A theory of generativity and its assessment through self-report, behavioral acts, and narrative themes in autobiography.. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology: 62, 1003-1015..
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McAdams, D. P. (1989). Intimacy: The need to be close.. Doubleday.

McAdams, D. P. (1985). Power, intimacy, and the life story: Personological inquiries into identity.. Guilford Press..

Selected Presentations

McAdams, D. P. (2008). Generativity and the redemptive self: Narratives of social commitment at midlife.. Invited keynote address, Japanese Society for Personality Psychology. Tokyo, Japan.

McAdams, D. P. (2008). A new Big Five: Fundamental principles for an integrative science of personality. . Japanese Society for Personality Psychology. Tokyo, Japan.

McAdams, D. P. (2008). Narrative identity and the redemptive self.. Invited keynote address, Yale and Penn Philosophy Departments Conference on Narrative and the Construction of Self, University of Pennsylvania. Philadelphia, PA.

McAdams, D. P. (2008). The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by.. The Marial Center for Myth and Ritual in American Life, Emory University. Atlanta, GA.

Albaugh, M., & McAdams, D. P. (2008). Politically engaged Christians imagine life without faith. . Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Albuquerque, NM.

Adler, J., Skalina, L., & McAdams, D. P. (2008). Stories of psychotherapy: Narrative identity and psychological health.. Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Albuquerque, NM.

McAdams, D. P. (2008). Identity in emerging adulthood: Qualitative approaches to research.. Society for Research in Adolescence. Chicago, IL.

McAdams, D. P. (2008). The redemptive self and the psychology of life stories: A workshop. . Michigan Group Psychotherapy Conference. Augusta, MI.

Bauer, J. J., & McAdams, D. P. (2008). Eudaimonic growth in emerging adulthood. . American Psychological Association. Boston, MD.

McAdams, D. P. (2008). My business, my story: Building a lasting legacy for the future.. Loyola University Family Business Center. Chicago, IL.

McAdams, D. P. (2008). Narrative identity, the redemptive self, and human development. . Conference on Self, Play, and Human Development, Church Divinity School of the Pacific. Berkeley, CA.

McAdams, D. P. (2008). Invited colloquium speaker, Kyoto University. Kyoto, Japan.

McAdams, D. P. (2008). Invited colloquium speaker, University of British Columbia.
. Vancouver, Canada.

McAdams, D. P. (2008). Invited colloquium speaker, Villanova University. Villanova, PA.

McAdams, D. P. (2008). Invited colloquium speaker, Rosalind Franklin University. Lake Forest, IL.

McAdams, D. P. (January, 2007). The power of stories. Society for Personality and Social Psychology. Memphis, TN.

McAdams, D. P. (January, 2007). The making of The Redemptive Self. 2006 All-College Reading Symposium, Christ College, Valparaiso University. Valparaiso, IN.

McAdams, D.P. (2007). Michigan State University. Invited Colloquium Speaker. East Lansing, MI.

McAdams, D.P. (2007). Northwestern University Medical School. Invited Colloquium Speaker. Chicago, IL.

McAdams, D.P. (2007). Adler School of Professional Psychology. Invited Colloquium Speaker.

McAdams, D.P. (2007). Harold Washington College. Invited Colloquium Speaker.

McAdams, D. P. (2007). The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by. The Louise W. and Edmund J. Kahn Lecture, Smith College. Northampton, MA.

Adler, J., & McAdams, D. P. (2007). The narrative reconstruction of psychotherapy and psychological functioning. Society for Psychotherapy Research. Madison, WI.

Albaugh, M., & McAdams, D. P. (2007). Personality, politics, and personal ideology: Right and left. International Society for Political Psychology. Portland, OR.

McAdams, D. P. (2007). The redemptive self. The William James Award Address, American Psychological Association. San Francisco, CA.

McAdams, D. P. (2007). The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by. The Lawrence Messe Memorial Lecture, Michigan State University. East Lansing, MI.

McAdams, D. P. (2007). The psychological sources of civic engagement. Conference on Civic Engagement and the University, Northwestern University. Evanston, IL.

McAdams, D. P. (2007). America’s redemptive storehouse. The Chicago Humanities Festival:  Climate of Concern. Chicago, IL.

McAdams, D. P. (2007). The redemptive self: Generativity and the story of life at midlife. Keynote address for the International  Conference on Generativity in the Family and in the Community, Centro Di Atteno Studi e Richere Sulla Famiglia, Alta Scoula di Psicologia A. Gemelli, Catholic University of Milan. Milan, Italy.

McAdams, D. P. (November, 2006). The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by. Grand Rounds, Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Northwestern University Medical School. Chicago, IL.

McAdams, D. P. (November, 2006). Invited colloquium speaker:. Chicago School of Professional Psychology. Chicago, IL.

McAdams, D. P., & Albaugh, M. (October, 2006). The redemptive self, generativity, and American Christians at midlife: Life stories of evangelical and mainline Protestants. . University of Lund Symposium on Autobiography and the Psychological Study of Religious Lives. Lund, Sweden.

McAdams, D. P. (October, 2006). Moral personality, generativity, and the redemptive self. . Notre Dame Symposium on Personality and Moral Character. North Bend, IN.

Bauer, J. J., & McAdams, D. P. (August, 2006). Self-transcendence in life stories and the development of a quiet ego. American Psychological Association. New Orleans, LA.

McAdams, D. P. (August, 2006). The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by. The 2006 IBM Lecture, Wittenberg University. Springfield, OH.

McAdams, D. P. (August, 2006). What is your story?. Convocation Address, Wittenberg University. Springfield, OH.

McAdams, D. P. (June, 2006). The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by. International Society for Dialogical Science. Braga, Portugal.

McAdams, D. P. (June, 2006). Creative work, love, and the dialogical self. International Society for Dialogical Science. Braga, Portugal.

McAdams, D. P. (April, 2006). The inner life of a leader. . Innovator Lecture Series, Masters Program in Learning and Organizational Change, Northwestern University. Evanston, IL.

McAdams, D. P. (February, 2006). The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by. The 2006 Klemmer Scholar Lecture, Washburn University. Topeka, KS.

McAdams, D.P. (January, 2006). Traits versus stories: Dispositional (semantic) and narrative (episodic) features of personality. Palm Springs, CA.

McAdam, D.P. (November, 2005). The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by. DePere, WI.

McAdams, D.P. (October, 2005). The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by. Landcaster, PA.

McAdams, D.P. (October, 2005). The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by. Little Rock, AK.

McAdams, D.P. (October, 2005). The psychology of life stories. Little Rock, AK.

McAdams, D. P. (August, 2005). The role of narrative in personality psychology. Washington, DC.

McAdams, D. P (August, 2005). Four questions about life stories. Washington, DC.

Adler, J., & McAdams, D. P. (August, 2005). Longitudinal continuity in the life story: Trends and individual differences. Washington, DC.

McAdams, D. P. (June, 2005). The redemptive self: Stories Americans live by. Keynote address for The Narrative Turn in the Social S. Jerusalem, Israel.

McAdams, D. P. (May, 2005). The psychology of life stories: Clinical and empirical perspectives. Keynote address and workshop at the Georgia Psychological Association. May.

McAdams, D. P Invited colloquium speaker. University of Michigan. MI.

McAdams, D.P. The Queen's University. Invited Colloquium Speaker. Belfast, Ireland.

McAdams, D.P. Northeast Ohio Medical Center. Invited Colloquium Speaker. Akron, OH.

Projects

Foley Center for the Study of Lives

Other Research/Scholarship

Awards/recognition:
I am a regular review of manuscripts – probably 35 this past year – for many different journals and publishers, including especially Psychological Bulletin and Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, and also for leading grant agencies, such as NIMH, NSF, and SSHRC.

Research Interests

Narrative psychology; the development of a life-story model of human identity; generativity and adult development; themes of power, intimacy, and redemption in human lives; modernity and the self; autobiographical memory; psychological biography.

Teaching/Advising
Courses

HDSP 404		Adult Development and Aging Concepts, theories and research on development and adaptation from early adulthood through aging: age periods, transitions, cognitive, moral and faith development; psychosocial and ego development; defense mechanisms; death and dying.
HDSP 413		Theories of Human Development Biological bases and interactions with the social and physical environments as sources of human development. Social, emotional and cognitive aspects of development. Theorists include Bowly, Erikson, Piaget, Vygotsky, Mead and Gardner.
HDPS 302		Human Personality Classic and contemporary psychological approaches to personality; understanding the whole person in his or her sociatal and historical context.  Emphasis on both theory and research.

Committees (PhD)

Start		End		Name		Position		Description
2007		2007		Adler, Simons		Chair
2007		2007		Person		Member

Service/Recognition
Professional Service

Year		Organization		Position		Description
2006		Society of Midland Authors		Member
2006		Society for the Study of Human Development		Member
2006		Society for Personology		Member
2006		Society for Personality Assessment		Member
2006		Society for Personality and Social Psychology		Member
2006		Society for Dialogical Science		Member
2006		Midwestern Psychological Association		Member
2006		Association for Research in Personality		Member
2006		American Psychological Society		Fellow
2006		American Psychological Association		Fellow
2005		Society for Personality and Social Psychology (SPSP)		Nominated to run for President of SPSP

Editorial Boards

Year		Journal Name		Position
2007		Theory and Psychology		Editorial Board
2007		Psychological Inquiry		Editorial Board
2007		Motivation and Emotion		Editorial Board
2006		Theory and Psychology		Board Member
2005		Personality and Social Psychology Review		Editorial board
2005		Motivation and Emotion		Editorial board
2001		Psychological Inquiry		Editorial board