Tanaka Award

Tanaka Dissertation Award

The J.S. Tanaka Personality Dissertation Award is presented annually to recognize an outstanding dissertation concerning personality. The award was established to honor the memory of Jeff Tanaka and his numerous contributions to the empirical study of personality.

2021 Award Winner Announced

The Tanaka Dissertation Award Committee (Rodica Damian, Olivia Atherton, and Jaap Denissen) has identified Dr. Hayley Jach as the recipient of the Tanaka Dissertation Award for dissertations defended in 2021. The committee was uniformly impressed by Dr. Jach’s interdisciplinary and rigorous program of research.

Dr. Jach’s dissertation is an investigation of how personality psychology and cognitive neuroscience can enrich one another. Part 1 (Studies 1-5) assessed how theory from personality psychology can address a current question in cognitive neuroscience: why people seek information that provides no extrinsic reward. Part 2 investigated how methods from cognitive neuroscience could be applied to explore possible neural bases of personality. Together, these studies emphasize the challenges, but also substantial benefits, from combining knowledge and methods from personality psychology and cognitive neuroscience to constrain existing theory, form links between research domains, and propose new avenues for research. Dr. Jach’s dissertation is notable for its theoretical depth and interdisciplinary approach, commendable open and reproducible science practices, rigorous design, diversity of methods (including experimental designs, self-reports, EEGs, advanced computational techniques), and clear and compelling writing.

Congratulations to Dr. Jach, and thank you to all of the 2021 Tanaka award applicants for the excellent work they are doing to further personality science!

List of Award Winners

2021 Hayley Jach

Hayley Jach, Ph. D., University of Melbourne, 2021
Dissertation: How personality psychology and cognitive neuroscience can enrich one another: Insights from information seeking to machine learning
Advisors: Luke D. Smilie

2020 Olivia Atherton

Olivia Atherton, Ph. D., University of California at Davis, 2020
Dissertation: Antecedents and Consequences of Effortful Control from Late Childhood to Young Adulthood
Advisors: Richard W. Robins

2019 Julia Rohrer

Julia Rohrer, Ph. D., International Max Planck Research School on the Life Course, University of Leipzig, 2019
Dissertation: Empirical and Conceptual Perspectives on the Determinants of Subjective Well-Being
Advisors: Stefan Schmukle & Gert G. Wagner

2018 Manon van Scheppingen

Manon van Scheppingen, Ph. D., Tilburg University, 2018
Dissertation: Personality development in the context of parenthood and romantic relationships
Advisors: Jaap Denissen and Wiebke Bleidorn

2017 Aaron Weidman

Aaron Weidman, Ph.D., University of British Columbia, 2017
Dissertation: Define, measure, repeat: An application of the iterative measurement-theory link to distinct positive emotions
Advisor: Jessica Tracy

2016 Felix Cheung

Felix Cheung, Ph.D., Michigan State University, 2016
Dissertation: Income redistribution and life satisfaction
Advisor: Richard Lucas

2015 Daniel A. Briley

Daniel A. Briley, Ph.D., University of Texas at Austin, 2015
Dissertation: The structure, development, and correlates of individual differences in human personality
Advisor: Elliot Tucker-Drob

2014 John F. Rauthmann

John F. Rauthmann, Ph.D., Humboldt University of Berlin, 2014
Dissertation: The psychological characteristics of situations
Advisors: Jens Asendorpf and Jochen Gebauer

2013 Ivana Anusic

Ivana Anusic, Ph.D., Michigan State University, 2013
Dissertation: Development of cultural identity and well-being of immigrants: Analysis of a longitudinal study of immigrants to Germany
Advisor: Richard E. Lucas

2012 Nicholas A. Turiano

Nicholas A. Turiano, Ph.D., Purdue University, 2012
Dissertation: The health behavior model of personality
Advisor: Daniel Mroczek

2011 Joshua J. Jackson

Joshua J. Jackson, Ph.D., University of Illinois, 2011
Dissertation: The effects of educational experiences on personality trait development
Advisor: Brent W. Roberts

2010 Sarah De Pauw

Sarah De Pauw, Ph.D., Ghent University, 2010
Dissertation: The contribution of temperament vs. personality to problem behavior in children and adolescents
Advisor: Ivan Mervielde

2009 Robert D. Latzman

Robert D. Latzman, Ph.D., University of Iowa, 2009
Dissertation: Interrelations among youth temperament, executive functions, and externalizing behaviors
Advisor: Lee Anna Clark

2008 Brian S. Connelly

Brian S. Connelly, Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 2008
Dissertation: The reliability, convergence, and predictive validity of personality ratings: An other perspective
Advisor: Deniz S. Ones

2007 Kristian E. Markon

Kristian E. Markon , Ph.D., University of Minnesota, 2007
Dissertation: Delineating the structure of normal and abnormal personality: An integrative hierarchical approach
Advisor: Robert F. Krueger

2006 Colin G. DeYoung

Colin G. DeYoung, Ph.D., University of Toronto, 2005
Dissertation: Cognitive ability and externalizing behavior in a psychobiological personality framework
Advisor: Jordan B. Peterson

2005 Kate E. Walton

Kate E. Walton, Ph.D., University of Illinois, Urbana-Champaign, 2005
Dissertation: Using item response theory to bridge the measurement gap between normal personality and psychopathy
Advisor: Brent W. Roberts

2003 Marc A. Fournier

Marc A. Fournier, Ph.D., McGill University, 2002
Dissertation: Agency and communion as fundamental dimensions of social adaptation and emotional adjustment
Advisor: D. S. Moskowitz

1999 Jeremy C. Biesanz

Jeremy C. Biesanz, Ph.D., Arizona State University, 1999
Dissertation: Personality coherence across time: Implications for the structure and perception of personality
Advisor: Stephen G. West

1998 Ian D. McGregor

Ian D. McGregor, Ph.D., University of Waterloo, 1998
Dissertation: An identity consolation view of social phenomena: Theory and research
Advisor: Mark P. Zanna

1997 Eva C. Klohnen

Eva C. Klohnen, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1996
Dissertation: Life paths of avoidantly and securely attached women across adulthood: A 31-year longitudinal perspective
Advisors: Ravenna Helson and Oliver P. John

1996 Robert F. Krueger

Robert F. Krueger, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin, 1996
Dissertation: Personality traits and mental disorders: Studies of structures and their interrelations across nations, genders, races, assessment instruments, time periods and reporters
Advisor: Terrie E. Moffitt

1995 Lauri A. Jensen-Campbell

Lauri A. Jensen-Campbell, Ph.D., Texas A&M University, 1995
Dissertation: Perceptions of interpersonal conflict during early adolescence
Advisor: William G. Graziano

1994 Jenae M. Neiderhiser and Brent W. Roberts

Jenae M. Neiderhiser, Ph.D., Pennsylvania State University, 1994
Dissertation: Family environment and adjustment in adolescence: Genetic and environmental influences over time
Advisor: Robert Plomin

Brent W. Roberts, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1994
Dissertation: A longitudinal study of the reciprocal relation between women’s personality and occupational experience
Advisor: Ravenna Helson

1993 Eileen Donahue and Peter R. Darke

Eileen Donahue, Ph.D., University of California, Berkeley, 1993
Dissertation: Bridging the gap between formal and informal assessments of personality
Advisor: Oliver P. John

Peter R. Darke, Ph.D., University of Toronto, 1993
Dissertation: The effects of a lucky event and beliefs about luck on confidence and risk-taking
Advisor: Jonathan L. Freedman