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Kayla M. Garner

PhD Candidate in Personality, Development & Health Psychology
Northwestern University

I study how personality traits interact with geographic and social contexts to shape behaviors, attitudes, and well-being. My work combines quantitative methods, large-scale datasets, and spatial analysis to understand person-environment fit at the population level.

Research Interests

Geography & Personality

How personality-behavior associations vary across U.S. regions, and what place-level factors explain that variation.

Pro-Environmental Behavior

Personality predictors of environmental attitudes and behaviors, and why those relationships differ by location.

Spatial Cognition

Associations between sense of direction, mental rotation, and geographic accessibility indicators.

Psychometrics

Trade-offs between internal consistency and validity, scale construction, and measurement reliability.

Political Psychology

Context-specific personality associations with political ideology shaped by geographical variation.

Quantitative Methods

Multilevel modeling, latent variable models, geographical analysis, and R programming for psychological research.

Education

PhD, Personality, Development & Health Psychology

Northwestern University · Expected June 2026

Certificate in Quantitative Analysis

Northwestern University · December 2024

MS, Psychology

Northwestern University · August 2023

MA, Psychology

California State University, Fullerton · May 2021

BA, Psychology

California State University, Channel Islands · December 2018

Selected Awards

Chair's Fellow in Statistical Excellence

Northwestern University · 2025–2026

Florence Sales Teaching Assistant of the Year

Northwestern University · Spring 2024

MPES Fellowship

Northwestern & Institute of Education Sciences · 2022–2024

Graduate School University Fellowship

Northwestern University · Fall 2021–Present