dr. Gabriel Olaru

Bio

My name is Gabriel Olaru. I am currently working as an assistant professor at the department of Developmental Psychology at Tilburg University.  Before coming to Tilburg I did my PhD in Germany (University of Kassel and Ulm University) and worked at a testing company in the US for over a year. Right now I focus mainly on questions about the effect of personality on our lives, how it develops across the lifespan, and whether people can actively change parts of their personality. I am also fascinated by the concepts of purpose and meaning in life and investigate how people can find it and how having a strong sense of purpose can contribute to overall life quality.

Courses

• ReMa-IDA: Dynamics of Indiv. Differences
• Bachelor's Th: Dev. Psych. & Lifesp. psy
• Bachelor's Th: Dev. Psych & Lifespan Psy
• Psychology of Personality

Recent publications

1. Does realizing strengths, insight, and behavioral practice through a …

   Allemand, M., Olaru, G., Stieger, M., & Flueckiger, C. (2024). Does realizing strengths, insight, and behavioral practice through a psychological intervention promote personality change? An intensive longitudinal study. European Journal of Personality.

2. Intervention-related correlated change between personality traits and…

   Allemand, M., Olaru, G., Stieger, M., & Flückiger, C. (2024). Intervention-related correlated change between personality traits and self-esteem. Consulting Psychology Journal. Advance online publication.

3. Sense of purpose and meaning in life during the transition to grandpa…

   Chereches, F. S., Ballhausen, N., Brehmer, Y., & Olaru, G. (2024). Sense of purpose and meaning in life during the transition to grandparenthood. European Journal of Personality. Advance online publication.

4. Examining sense of purpose and conscientiousness as unique correlates…

   Hill, P. L., Olaru, G., & Allemand, M. (2024). Examining sense of purpose and conscientiousness as unique correlates of health: A bifactor examination. Journal of Health Psychology. Advance online publication.

5. Measuring global character dimensions - An ant colony optimization ap…

   Partsch, M. V., Olaru, G., & Lechner, C. M. (2024). Measuring global character dimensions: An ant colony optimization approach toward three core strength scales. Journal of Personality Assessment.