Research Interests 

Personality and self esteem development; self and emotion; interpersonal perception.

California Families Project

Selected Accomplishments

Principal investigator, “Midlife cognitive aging in Hispanics/Latinos: Predictors and mechanisms of decline.” National Institute on Aging (R01AG060164, $3,895,843)

2019, Service Award, presented biennially to “recognize extraordinary service” to the Association for Research in Personality

Selected Publications 

Johnson, L. E., Parra, L. A., Ugarte, E., Weissman, D. G., Han, S. G., Robins, R. W., Guyer. A. E., & Hastings, P. D. (2021). Patterns of poverty across adolescence predict salivary cortisol stress responses in Mexican-origin youths. Psychoneuroendocrinology. 132, 105340. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.psyneuen.2021.105340  

Beard, S. J., Hastings, P. D., Ferrer, E., Robins, R. W., & Guyer, A. E. (2021). Neural response to social exclusion moderates the link between adolescent anxiety symptoms and substance use. Biological Psychiatry: Cognitive Neuroscience and NeuroImaging.

Lin, L. C., Pomerantz, E. M., Zheng, L. R., & Robins, R. W. (in press).  Mothers’ perceptions of the climate of their children’s schools: Covariations with children’s academic adjustment in families of Mexican origin.  Child Development.

Mann, F. D., Atherton, O. E., DeYoung, C. G., Krueger, R. F., & Robins, R. W. (in press). Big five personality traits and common mental disorders within a hierarchical taxonomy of psychopathology: A longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth.  Journal of Abnormal Psychology.

Alessandri, G., Robins, R. W., Perinelli, E., Vecchione, M., & Filosa, L. (in press). Personality trait change at work: Associations with organizational socialization and identification. Journal of Personality.

Orth, U., Clark D. A., Donnellan, M. B., & Robins, R. W. (in press). Testing prospective effects in longitudinal research: Comparing seven competing cross-lagged models. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 
 
Chahal, R., Weissman, D.G., Hallquist, M.N., Robins, R.W., Hastings, P.D., & Guyer, A.E. (in press). Neural connectivity biotypes: Associations with internalizing problems throughout adolescence. Psychological Medicine.

Zheng, L.R., Atherton, O.E., Trzesniewski, K. H., & Robins, R. W. (in press). Are self-esteem and academic achievement reciprocally related? Findings from a longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth. Journal of Personality.

Willroth, E. C., Atherton, O. E., & Robins, R. W. (in press). Life satisfaction trajectories during adolescence and the transition to young adulthood: Findings from a longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 

Atherton, O.E., Donnellan, M.B., & Robins, R.W. (in press). The development of personality across the lifespan. In P.J. Corr & G. Matthews (Eds.), Handbook of Personality Psychology, 2nd ed. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Atherton, O.E., Lawson, K.M., & Robins, R.W. (in press). The development of effortful control from late childhood to young adulthood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Lawson, K., Atherton, O. E., Ferrer, E., & Robins, R. W. (in press).  The development of educational aspirations and expectations from adolescence to young adulthood: A longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth.  Social Psychological and Personality Science.  

Damian, R. I., Atherton, O. E., Lawson, K., & Robins, R. W. (in press). The co-development of chores and effortful control among Mexican-origin youth and prospective work outcomes. Journal of Research in Personality.

Lu, C., Benet-Martinez, V., & Robins, R. W. (in press).  The development of ethnic identity from late childhood to young adulthood: Findings from a ten-year longitudinal study of Mexican-origin youth.  Social Psychological and Personality Science. 

Wetzel, E., Grivalda, E., Roberts, B. W., & Robins, R. W. (in press). You’re still so vain; Changes in narcissism from young adulthood to middle age.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.

Krauss, S., Orth, U., & Robins, R. W. (in press).  Family environment and self-esteem development: A longitudinal study from age 10 to 16.  Journal of Personality and Social Psychology.
209.

Swartz, J.R., Weissman, D.G., Ferrer, E., Beard, S.J., Fassbender, C., Robins, R.W., Hastings, P.D., & Guyer, A.E. (2020). Reward-related brain activity prospectively predicts increases in alcohol use in adolescents. Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 59, 391-400.

Cruz, R. A., Navarro, C., Carrera, K., Lara, J., Mechammil, M., & Robins, R. W. (in press). Mexican-origin youths’ trajectories of internalizing symptoms from childhood into adolescence and associations with acculturation processes. Journal of Clinical Child and Adolescent Psychology.

Wetzel, E., Atherton, O. E., & Robins, R. W. (in press). Investigating the link between narcissism and problem behaviors in adolescence. Self and Identity.

Clark, D. A., Donnellan, M. B., & Robins, R. W. (in press). Antisocial traits, negative emotionality, and trajectories of relationship quality in Mexican-origin couples. Journal of Personality Disorders.

Atherton, O.E., Lawson, K.M., Ferrer, E., & Robins, R.W. (2020). The role of effortful control in the development of ADHD, ODD, and CD symptoms. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 118, 1226-1246.

Clark, D. A., Donnellan, M. B., Durbin, C. E., Nuttall, A. K., Hicks, B. M., & Robins, R. W. (2020). Sex, drugs, and early emerging risk: Examining the association between sexual debut and substance use across adolescence. PLoS ONE, 15(2). doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0228432

Aceves, L., Bámaca-Colbert, M. Y., & Robins, R. W. (2020). Longitudinal linkages among parents’ educational expectations, youth’s educational expectations, and competence in Mexican-origin families.  Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 49, 32-48.

Weissman, D. G., Guyer, A. E., Ferrer, E., Robins, R. W., & Hastings, P. D. (2019). Tuning of brain-autonomic coupling by prior threat exposure: Implications for internalizing problems in Mexican-origin adolescents. Development and Psychopathology, 31, 1127-1141.

Stein, G.L., Castro-Schilo, L., Cavanaugh, A., Mejia, Y.M., Christophe, K., & Robins, R. W. (2019). When discrimination hurts: The longitudinal impact of increases in peer discrimination on anxiety and depressive symptoms in Mexican-origin youth. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 48, 864-875.

Schroeder, K. M., Bámaca-Colbert, M. Y., & Robins, R. W. (2019). Becoming more egalitarian: A longitudinal examination of Mexican-origin adolescents' gender role attitudes. Developmental Psychology, 55, 2311-2323.

Cruz, R. A., Mechammil, M., & Robins, R. W. (2019). Familism, sibling relationship qualities, and sibling sex constellation as predictors of alcohol use among Mexican-origin adolescents. Journal of Family Psychology, 33, 868-875.

Martin, M., Conger, R. D., & Robins, R. W. (2019). Family stress processes and drug and alcohol use by Mexican-American adolescents.  Developmental Psychology, 55, 170-183. 

Trzesniewski, K. H., Donnellan, M. B., Moffitt, T. E., Robins, R. W., Poulton, R., & Caspi, A. (2006). Low self-esteem during adolescence predicts poor health, criminal behavior, and limited economic prospects during adulthood. Developmental Psychology, 42, 381-390.

Robins, R. W. (2005). The nature of personality: Genes, culture, and national character. Science, 310, 62-63.

Robins, R. W., & Trzesniewski, K. H. (2005). Self-esteem development across the lifespan. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 14, 158-162.

Tracy, J. L., Robins, R. W., & Lagattuta, K. H. (2005). Can children recognize pride? Emotion, 5, 251-257

Robins, R. W., & Tracy, J. L. (2003). Setting an agenda for a person-centered approach to personality development: Commentary. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 68, 110-122.