Karl Kelley

I arrived at North Central College in the Fall of 1988.  My original plan was to stay for 4 to 5 years then return home to the East Coast (Virginia, Maryland, or North Carolina).  However, North Central College is a great place to work, and I have overstayed my projected time by a bit.

My teaching and research interests focus on Industrial/Organizational Psychology and Applied Psychometrics.  In a typical year, I have the pleasure of teaching classes such as Statistics, Industrial/Organizational Psychology, Personality, Psychological Assessment, and occasionally Positive Psychology.  I have also taught classes on the history of science (Landmarks in Science - exploring the development of science from ancient Greece to the early 1900s) and Portraits of Health (taught in London UK where we explore the interrelationships among developments in medical and psychological care with art and theater).

As an Industrial/Organizational psychologist, my overall goal is to develop psychologically healthy organizations that yield high performing teams (business, athletics, classroom, and relationships).  My research focuses on how interpersonal trust and justice create important foundations for developing these high performing teams.  My most recent research addresses how a willingness to disclose vulnerabilities (issues of mental and physical health) can increase performance.  I am also collecting data on how we create balance in our lives by managing time allocations to work, family, community, and self.  Along with my undergraduate research teams, I have recently presented work related to these topics at national (Chicago, Washington D.C., San Francisco, Boston) and international (Athens Greece, & Dublin Ireland) conferences.    

I am delighted to serve as the Faculty Athletic Mentor to Women's Lacrosse - NCC Athletics.  I am also a First-Generation College student and enjoy working with our First-Generation Programs.    

In my free time, I enjoy bike riding (I have several bikes including a Giant Revolt, Cannondale Synapse, TREK CronusCX, Santana Tandem, and a Klein Aura X), traveling with my wife Jai'neen (we try to visit cool historical sites in Europe once a year), reading (psychology of course but also medieval murder mysteries and biographies, fantasy, and science fiction), listing to Irish/Celtic music, and spending time with my dogs (Tycho Brahe the Dog –named after Tycho Brahe the astronomer and Beagle the Dog --named after Darwin's ship HMS Beagle).  

Selected Scholarship

Stoffregen, L. R, Kelley, K. N., & Bicking, F. (2022, May).  Taking Off the Cape: Evaluating Firefighters Requesting Leave to Address Mental and Physical Health. Poster at the 34th Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Chicago, IL. https://www.psychologicalscience.org/conventions/2022-aps-annual-convention

Kelley, K. N. (2021).  Perman Personality Indicator: Employee Coaching and Leadership Development.  In Janet F. Carlson, Kurt F. Geisinger, and Jessica L. Jonson (Eds.), The Twenty-first Mental Measurements Yearbook.  Lincoln, NE: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements. 

Kelley, K. N., Luchetti, L. F. (2019, May). Evaluating Academic Dishonesty as a Function of Gender Bias and Regulatory Focus.  Poster at the 31st Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC. 2019 Convention Program – Association for Psychological Science – APS 

Kelley, K. N., Wright, A. R., & Vestuto, G. E. (2019, May). Oops: Evaluating Professional Competency Following a Diagnostic Error.  Poster at the 31st Annual Convention of the Association for Psychological Science, Washington, DC.

Kelley, K. N. (2017). Leadership Judgment Indicator-2 (LJI-2): Effectiveness of Situational Judgment Testing in Selecting and Developing Organizational Leaders.  In Janet F. Carlson, Kurt F. Geisinger, and Jessica L. Jonson, (Eds.), The Twentieth Mental Measurements Yearbook.  Lincoln, NE: Buros Institute of Mental Measurements.

Courses Taught

PSYC 250 Statistics

PSYC 270 Industrial Organizational Psychology

PSYC 320 Personality

PSYC 360 Psychological Assessment