Charles Carver, 1947-2019

APS Fellow Charles S. Carver, whose research focused on the personality dimensions of optimism versus pessimism, died June 22nd.  Carver was a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of Miami, where he joined the faculty in 1975 after earning his PhD at the University of Texas at Austin.

Carver’s work spanned the areas of personality psychology, social psychology, health psychology, and more recently experimental psychopathology. He developed several instruments designed for measuring self-regulation, including coping reactions, self-criticism, goal-setting, and adult attachment. His research included a considerable degree of focus on how people cope with stressful experiences, particularly health crises such as breast cancer.

His work was supported by the National Science Foundation, American Cancer Society, National Cancer Institute, and National Institute of Mental Health.   

Carver served for 6 years as Editor of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology’s section on Personality Processes and Individual Differences and another 6 years as an Associate Editor of Psychological Review.  He authored 10 books and over 400 articles and chapters. His work has been cited over 120,000 times.

Read an interview with Carver from a 2004 issue of the Observer.

Comments

Chuck Carver was a wonderful mentor and supervisor to me. I will think of him with great fondness.


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