Jonathan Cheek

Jonathan Cheek is a Professor of Psychology at Wellesley College, where he has made significant contributions to personality psychology, particularly in shyness research, identity orientations, and introversion. His work spans several decades, with ongoing research activity evident from publications up to 2023.

Dr. Cheek's research interests focus on several key areas of personality psychology:

• Shyness as both a situational emotion and personality trait
• Identity orientations including personal, relational, public, and collective aspects
• Different types of introversion (social, thinking, anxious, and restrained)
• Types of narcissism, particularly distinguishing between overt, covert, and adaptive forms
• Individual differences in sociosexuality

Analysis of Dr. Cheek's publication history shows a consistent focus on developing and validating psychological scales and measures. His work on the Revised Cheek and Buss Shyness Scale (RCBS) has been particularly influential, with ongoing refinement and application across multiple contexts. He has also made significant contributions to understanding identity through the Aspects of Identity Questionnaire (AIQ), which has evolved through multiple editions to include four distinct identity orientation scales. More recently, his research has expanded to examine different dimensions of introversion and narcissism, with several publications appearing in top percentiles of views on academic platforms, indicating significant influence in his field.

As an advisor, Dr. Cheek has mentored students including Haley N Cheek and Nathan Cheek, who have co-authored publications with him on identity orientations and introversion. His collaborative work extends to researchers like Jennifer O. Grimes and Julie Norem on topics related to shyness.

Dr. Cheek maintains an active research group at Wellesley College focused on personality assessment and individual differences, continuing to produce significant contributions to psychological science.