# Aligning Measurement of Psychological Traits and Economic Preferences

> **NIH NIH R01** · UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO · 2024 · $562,775

## Abstract

Project Summary
 We propose a collaborative research project in psychology, child development, and behavioral economics
investigating the comparability and predictive power of measures of human potential that are regularly used in these
fields. Using data collected on common measures of personality traits, executive function (EF) skills, and economic
preferences across multiple countries, we will apply rigorous statistical methodology to investigate the relationships
among these attributes beginning in pre-adolescence and assess which dimensions best predict health, wellbeing,
educational outcomes, wages, and workforce decisions. We will also examine the stability and malleability of child and
adolescent traits, skills, and preferences across environments with different contexts and incentive structures. (1) We
examine the commonality of traits, and (2) their uniqueness, and (3) the evolution of unique and common traits. We will
examine additional measures beyond the traditional ones (for example Guanxi, a trait capturing sociability that is widely
used in China) to examine their relationship with the standard measures, and whether they have additional predictive
power.
 Personality traits, EF skills, and economic preferences in childhood and adolescence are important predictors of
adult outcomes, including physical and mental health, educational attainment, and employment. Measures of these
attributes, such as perseverance and time preference, are increasingly used to evaluate the impacts of childhood
interventions, monitor progress in school, forecast health outcomes, and study economic and social inequality. However,
little is known about how traits, skills, and preferences evolve and co-evolve across childhood and adolescence.
 This grant will support collaborative efforts to measure child and adolescent personality traits, EF skills, and
economic preferences drawing on expertise from the Center for the Economics of Human Development (University of
Chicago), the Educational Testing Service, the briq Institute on Behavior & Inequality (University of Bonn), the Institute
of Child Development (University of Minnesota), and the Institute for Economic and Social Research (Jinan University).
Using existing data combined with new data collection, we will explore the relationships across elicited trait, skill, and
preference measures to determine the extent to which different measurement schemes capture common or distinct aspects
of human differences, and if these relationships vary across cultures, gender, ethnicity, and race. Our analysis will
standardize across the measures to account for factors that influence responses, leading to increased comparability. We
will use our elicited measures and the latent factors underlying them to predict performance in school (e.g., absenteeism,
grades, promotion, behavioral problems, graduation), health (e.g., physical, emotional, social), and wages, employment,
and occupation. We will examine the stability and...

## Key facts

- **NIH application ID:** 10934516
- **Project number:** 5R01HD107079-02
- **Recipient organization:** UNIVERSITY OF CHICAGO
- **Principal Investigator:** STEPHANIE M. CARLSON
- **Activity code:** R01 (R01, R21, SBIR, etc.)
- **Funding institute:** NIH
- **Fiscal year:** 2024
- **Award amount:** $562,775
- **Award type:** 5
- **Project period:** 2023-09-25 → 2028-06-30

## Primary source

NIH RePORTER: https://reporter.nih.gov/project-details/10934516

## Citation

> US National Institutes of Health, RePORTER application 10934516, Aligning Measurement of Psychological Traits and Economic Preferences (5R01HD107079-02). Retrieved via AI Analytics 2026-05-24 from https://api.ai-analytics.org/grant/nih/10934516. Licensed CC0.

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