Joshua Wilt
Graduate Student in Personality/Clinical Psychology
Department of Psychology
Northwestern University
Evanston, Illinois, USA 60208

office: 109 Cresap Laboratory
telephone: 847-491-4515
email: joshuawilt2008@u.northwestern.edu

Education

B.A. in Psychology, Minor in Biochemistry, The Ohio State University, 2001-2005
M.A. in Psychology, Wake Forest University, 2005-2007
Ph.D. Student in Personality/Clinical Psychology Northwestern University, 2007-present

Research interests

I am broadly interested in the study of individual differences. My research investigates the structure of normal and abnormal personality, how people make meaning of their lives through life-narratives, and intra-individual variability in personality states.

Structure of Personality

Biological and descriptive approaches to personality are concerned with identifying the fundamental dimensions along which people differ. My current research in examines the affective, behavioral, cognitive, and desire (the "ABCDs" of personality) components of basic individual differences. This research uses a web-based personality test that may be found at the Personality Project, a website devoted to current personality theory and research. I am also interested in how normal personality traits relate to personality pathology.

The Study of Life-Narratives

One way that people make sense of their lives is through the psychological construction of life narratives. My current projects in this area examine (i) the functions of life stories, (ii) the intergenerational transmission of virtues through life stories, (iii) memories of authentic and inauthentic experiences, and (iv) narratives of professional dancers.

Intra-individual Variability in Personality States

Personality states may be thought of as having the same characteristics of personality traits, except whereas traits are thought to be stable, states may change rapidly over short periods of time. My current projects in this area are concerned with (i) the relationships between personality states, affect, and subjective judgments of one's own authenticity, (ii) the structure of affective and behavioral variability, and (iii) the relations between positive and negative affective variability and psychopathology.

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