My primary research interest is in common patterns of stability and change in basic personality traits in the course of normal human development. My professional expertise as a clinical psychologist is in personality assessment. As the purpose of psychological assessment is the prediction of future behavior and adjustment, questions of behavioral stability across time and setting are fundamentally important to the success of this enterprise. My clinical research has focused on a variety of populations and problems, including borderline personality disorder (BPD) and traumatic brain injury (TBI). My research with college students provides an opportunity to address more basic research questions about the stability of personality traits in normally developing young adults. An accurate depiction of change and development in personality requires multiple methods of assessment. Toward this end, I have conducted research on the reliability and validity of lay informant ratings for personality assessment. The future directions of my research program are to discover common patterns of change in basic personality traits (i.e., Five-Factor Model, Interpersonal Circumplex, etc.) and the causes and consequences of such changes. Ultimately, I would like to contribute to a better understanding of the incidence and extent of personality change as a consequence of expected or unexpected life events during the transition from late adolescence to early adulthood (18 to 25 years).  

Please see curriculum vitae from John Kurtz home page for published studies.