Robert F. Krueger

Brief Biography

Robert F. Krueger was born in 1970 in Green Bay, Wisconsin. He was raised in the Milwaukee suburb of Greendale.

Krueger received his bachelor’s degree, with honors, in psychology in 1991 from the University of Wisconsin at Madison.

Krueger then earned his master’s degree (1993) and his PhD (1996) in clinical psychology, also from the University of Wisconsin. His doctoral dissertation was entitled “Personality Traits and Mental Disorders: Studies of Structures and Their Inter-relations Across Nations, Genders, Races, Assessment Instruments, Time Periods, and Reporters.”

After obtaining his doctorate, Krueger took up a two-year clinical internship at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island.

In 1998, Krueger was hired as Assistant Professor by the University of Minnesota in Minneapolis-St. Paul. Krueger spent the next decade at Minnesota, where he advanced to Associate Professor and full Professor status.

In 2008, Krueger moved to Washington University in St. Louis, Missouri, with the status of tenured full Professor.

Two years later, in 2010, Krueger returned to the Department of Psychology at Minnesota as the Hathaway Distinguished Professor of Clinical Psychology.

Since 2014, Krueger has also held the title of Distinguished McKnight University Professor at the University of Minnesota.

One of the most-cited psychologists worldwide, Krueger has published around 650 peer-reviewed journal articles and book chapters.

He has also co-edited several highly regarded textbooks, notably, Personality and Psychopathology(2006), The Oxford Handbook of Integrative Health Science (2018), and Oxford Textbook of Psychopathology (4^th ed., 2023).

Notable Quotes

Note: The original sources of the following quotations attributed here to Robert F. Krueger are provided where known. If no specific source is mentioned, then the attributed quotation may be assumed to derive from or (perhaps via paraphrase) be inspired by Kruger’s many academic and popular writings.

Academic Life

There are all kinds of elements of psychological well-being that accompany the academic life – for example, a sense of autonomy, and being able to set your own schedule and approach. But there are a lot of challenges because there are many steps to take to establish yourself as a scholar. So generally, my advice is to try to maintain a focus on the joy of intellectual activity and discovery, in the face of the numerous challenges inherent in the academic enterprise.

“3 Questions with Robert F. Krueger,” Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group, University of Chicago, September 21, 2018.

Genetic Contribution to Human Behavior

The kinds of questions that started to occur to me had to do with the idea that things like health and well-being and mental disorder and so on, might not have a fixed set of genetic contributions. Rather, the magnitude of genetic contributions might vary as a function of some kind of exogenous moderator, such as variables indexing social phenomena, such as [socioeconomic status] and the quality of interpersonal relationships.

“3 Questions with Robert F. Krueger,” Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group, University of Chicago, September 21, 2018.

Krueger on Krueger

I was trained initially as a clinical psychologist, but I developed a real interest in quantitative psychology, psychometrics, and understanding individual differences. So that interest sort of dovetailed with my interest in personality, the classification of psychopathology, and areas like that I have ventured into.

“3 Questions with Robert F. Krueger,” Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group, University of Chicago, September 21, 2018.

Around that time, I also got interested in the field of behavior genetics, which is how I had a close connection to studying individual differences. I got interested in studying things like that, and then I also got a job at the University of Minnesota, which is a place that’s historically been very focused on human individual differences and understanding their origins. I started to work on twin studies with colleagues here.

“3 Questions with Robert F. Krueger,” Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group, University of Chicago, September 21, 2018.

To be concrete, I got interested in trying to study things like the magnitude of the genetic contribution to physical health or [body mass index], as a function of things like a bad marriage as opposed to a better marriage.  We find there is not really a fixed degree of genetic or environmental contributions to these public health kinds of outcomes. Rather, those contributions seem to vary dynamically as a function of things like quality of relationships.

“3 Questions with Robert F. Krueger,” Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group, University of Chicago, September 21, 2018.

I can remember what it’s like to be a grad student and have very little money and all kinds of duties, like having to [work as a Teaching Assistant]. I think my advice is to keep your eyes on the prize, which is that it’s a real privilege to have an intellectual life. Many people are not privileged to be able to think about things for a living, and to have these kinds of discussions like we’re having here, and to be compensated for that type of effort.

“3 Questions with Robert F. Krueger,” Human Capital and Economic Opportunity Global Working Group, University of Chicago, September 21, 2018.

Personality

Personality is not just who we are, but also how we relate to others and the world around us.

Personality Disorders

Personality disorders represent extreme expressions of normal personality traits, highlighting the importance of studying both ends of the continuum.

Psychopathology is not a discrete category, but rather a continuum of symptoms and behaviors that vary in severity and impact.

Personality Traits

Understanding the spectrum of personality traits can provide valuable insights into human behavior and mental health.

Trait-based models of personality provide a useful framework for understanding individual differences in behavior, cognition, and emotion.

Personality is not just a fixed trait, but a dynamic interplay between genetic predispositions and environmental influences.

Research on Personality

Research on personality and psychopathology can inform both clinical practice and public health interventions, leading to more effective treatment and prevention strategies.

The study of personality and psychopathology offers a window into the complexities of human nature and mental health.

Understanding the underlying dimensions of personality can help us better predict and intervene in a wide range of psychological disorders.