Research Interests

The True Self, Well-being, and Meaning in Life

Recent Publications

Schlegel, R. J., Chu, S. L., Chen, K., Deuermeyer, E., Christy, A. G., & Quek, F. (2019). Making in the classroom:  Longitudinal evidence of increases in self-efficacy and STEM possible selves over time. Computers and Education, 142, 103637.

Zhang, H., Chen, K., Schlegel, R., Hicks, J., & Chen, C. (2019). The authentic moral self: Dynamic interplay between perceived authenticity and moral behaviors in the workplace. Collabra: Psychology, 5(1), 48. DOI: http://doi.org/10.1525/collabra.260

Zhang, H., Chen, K., & Schlegel R. J. (2019). Intrinsic aspirations, person-environment fit, meaning in work and meaning in life: A moderated mediation model. Journal of Happiness Studies, 20, 1481-1497.

Kim, J., Seto, E., Schlegel, R. J., & Hicks, J. A. (2019). Thinking about a new decade in life increases personal self-reflection: A replication and reinterpretation of Alter and Hershfield’s (2014) findings. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 117, e27-e34.

Christy, A. G., Schlegel, R. J., & Cimpian, A. (2019). Why do people believe in a “true self”? The role of essentialist reasoning about personal identity and the self. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 117, 386-416.

Rivera, G.N, Christy, A.G., Kim, J., Vess, M., Hicks, J.A., & Schlegel, R. J. (2019). Understanding the relationship between perceived authenticity and well-being. Review of General Psychology, 23, 113-126.

Kim, J., Chen, K., Davis, W. E, Hicks, J.A., & Schlegel, R. J. (2019). Approaching the ue-self: Promotion focus predicts the experience of authenticity. Journal of Research in Personality, 78, 165-176.  

Rivera, G., Smith, C., & Schlegel, R. J. (2019). Window to the true self: The importance of I-sharing in romantic relationships. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 36, 1640-1650.

Vess,  M.,  Brooker,  R.,  Schlegel,  R. J.,  &  Hicks,  J. A.  (2019). Daily mental lapses and the subjective experience  of  true  self-alienation.  Journal of Research in Personality, 78, 148-152.

Kim, J., Christy, A. G., Schlegel, R. J., Donnellan, M. B., & Hicks, J. A. (2018). Existential ennui: The reciprocal relationship between self-alienation and academic amotivation among college students. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 9. 853-862.

Zhang, H.,Chen, K., & Schlegel R. J.  (2018). How do people judge meaning in goal-directed behaviors: The interplay between self-concordance and performance. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 44, 1582-1600.

De Frietas, J., Cikara, M., Grossman, I. & Schlegel, R. (2018) Moral goodness is the essence of personal identity. Trends in Cognitive Science, 22, 739-740.

Kim, J., Christy, A. G., Rivera, G. N., Schlegel, R. J., & Hicks, J. A. (2018). Following one’s true self and the sacredness of cultural values. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 76, 100-103.

Seto, E. & Schlegel, R. J. (2018). Becoming your true self: Perceptions of authenticity across the lifespan. Self & Identity, 17, 310-326.

Christy, A. G., Kim, J., Vess, M., Schlegel, R. J., & Hicks, J.A. (2017). The reciprocal relationship between perceptions of moral goodness and knowledge of others’ true selves. Social Psychological and Personality Science, 8, 910-917.

De Freitas, J., Cikara, M., Grossmann, I & Schlegel, R. J. (2017). Origins of the belief in good true selves. Trends in Cognitive Sciences, 21, 634-636.

Christy, A. G., Sanders, C., Vess, M., Routledge, C., & Schlegel, R. J. (2017). The true self and existential structure? Unexpected effects of mortality salience and need for structure on belief in the true self. Self and Identity, 3, 335-352.

Schlegel, R. J. & Hicks, J. A. (2017). Reflections on the scientific study of meaning in life. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 30, 26-31.

Bench, S.W., Rivera, G. N., Schlegel, R. J., Hicks, J. A., & Lench, H. C. (2017). Does expertise matter in replication? An examination of the reproducibility project: Psychology. Journal of Experimental Social Psychology, 68, 181-184.