Professor Dan Hart teaches a range of psychology courses, such as Adolescence, Applied Developmental Psychology, Introductory Psychology, Psychology in Everyday Life, as well as Theory and Method.

Dr. Hart's research focuses on the intersection of personality with adaptation and development. He tries to understand what the components of personality are, the
ways in which personality influences successful adjustment to different social contexts, and how the components of personality are acquired over the course of
development. His work, reported in an article co-authored with Suzanne Fegley, received the Outstanding Research Award in the Area of Human Development from Division E of  the American Educational Research Association (1996).  He has written or edited five books, including Colby & Hart, Character and Competence: Developmental Pathways and Killen & Hart, Morality in everyday life: Developmental Perspectives  (and for one of the books he received the Outstanding Book Award for 1996 from the American Educational Research Association, Moral Development and Education Special Interest Group).

Dr. Hart is currently involved in a study of the development of civic competence in adolescence. The William T. Grant Foundation funded "The Development of Civic Competence in Adolescence,” a joint 2-year project between research teams at the Catholic University of America and at Rutgers University. More...

Research-Based Program Development

STARR (Sports Teaching Adolescents Responsibility and Resiliency) Program. With Robert Atkins, Dan Hart founded the STARR Program, now in its seventh year, which combines year-round sports, community service, camping, and homework support in order to foster development among youth in one of the poorest cities in America. The Camden STARR Program is working with approx. 80-100 African American, Latino, and Southeastern Asian adolescents, to foster the development of responsibility and resiliency in young teenagers through sports, community service, fundraising activities, and education and computer training. (Read "Citizenship and Urban Youth" by Bob Atkins and Dan Hart)

Healthy Futures for Camden Youth (HFCY). With Robert Atkins, Dan Hart has developed the HFCY Program (now in its fourth year) to improve access to healthcare for youth in Camden, New Jersey. Central to the program is the door-to-door canvassing of neighborhoods throughout the city in order to enroll low income and immigrant families in the health insurance programs that are prerequisite to obtaining care. HFCY has targeted health concerns related to children and teens.  With Nancy Southerland and Bob Atkins, Dan Hart interviewed parents who enrolled in NJ's Family Care Program. The researchers found that the health insurance program dramatically improves children's access to health care. The report: "Does Health Insurance Improve Children's Lives? A Study of New Jersey's Family Care Program" is available in PDF: http://camden-nt1.rutgers.edu/hart/hfcywebdocument.PDF

Dr. Hart has received generous funding for his research and various service and outreach projects, including from the William T. Grant Foundation, Camden Empowerment Zone Corporation, Campbell Soup, and Johnson & Johnson.

Books:

Hart, D., & Atkins, R. (in preparation). Relatively deprived: Youth in urban America.

Hart, D., Atkins, R., & Fegley, S. (2003). Personality and development in childhood: A person-centered approach. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child Development, 68(1, Serial No. 272).

Colby, A., James, J., & Hart, D. (Eds.). (1998). Competence and character through life. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

Killen, M., & Hart, D. (Eds). (1995). Morality in everyday life: Developmental perspectives. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Hart, D. (1992). Becoming men: The development of aspirations, values, and adaptational styles. New York: Plenum.

Damon, W., & Hart, D. (1988). Self-understanding in childhood and adolescence. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Selected Articles:

Hart, D., Donnelly, T. M., Youniss, J., & Atkins, R.  (in press).  High school predictors of adult civic engagement: The roles of volunteering, civic knowledge, extracurricular activities, and attitudes.  American Educational Research Journal.  

Hart, D. & Matsuba, K.  Pride and moral life.  (in press).  To appear in J. Tracy, R. Robins, & J. Tangney (Eds.) The self-conscious emotions: Theory and research.  New York: Guilford.   

Hart, D., Atkins, R., & Tursi, N.  (in press).  Origins and developmental influences on self-esteem.  To appear in M. Kernis (Ed.) Self-esteem.  London: Psychology Press.  

Hart, D., Atkins, R., & Donnelly, T.  (in press).  James Youniss’ contributions to applied developmental science. In C. B. Fisher & R. M. Lerner (Eds.)  Applied developmental science: An encyclopedia of research, policies, And programs.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.  

Hart, D., Atkins, R., Markey, P., & Youniss, J.  (2006).  Youth bulges.  In L.R. Sherrod, R. Kassimir, & C. Flanagan (Eds.), Youth Activism: An International Encyclopedia, Volume II (pp. 688-691). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Company.  

Donnelly, T. M., Atkins, R., & Hart, D.  (2006).  Parental influences on youth activism.  In L.R. Sherrod, R. Kassimir, and C. Flanagan (Eds.), Youth Activism: An International Encyclopedia, Volume II (pp. 454-456). Westport, CT: Greenwood Publishing Company.  

Hart, D., Atkins, R., & Donnelly, T. M.  (2006).  Community service and moral development.  In M. Killen & J. Smetana (Eds.), Handbook of Moral Development (pp. 633-656). Hillsdale, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.  

Youniss, J., & Hart, D.  (2006).  The virtue in youth civic participation.  Diskurs Kindheits- und Jugendforschung, 2, 229-243. 

Hart, D. (2005). Adding identity to the moral domain. Human Development, 45, 257-261.

Youniss, J., & Hart, D. (2005). The intersection of social institutions with civic development. In L.A. Jensen & R.W. Larson (Eds.) New Directions in Child Development: New Horizons in Developmental Theory and Research (Number 109) (pp. 73-81). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.

Donnelly, T. M., Matsuba, K., Hart, D., & Atkins, R. (2005). The relationship between spiritual development and civic development. P.L. Benson, E.C. Roehlkepartain, P. Ebstyne, & L.M. Wagener (Eds.), Handbook of Spiritual Development in Childhood and Adolescence (pp. 239-251). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publications.

Hart, D., & Carlo, G. (2005). Moral development in adolescence. Journal of Research on Adolescence, 15, 223-233. (sixth most frequently downloaded article in the Journal, 2005)

Atkins, R., Hart, D., & Donnelly, T. (2005). The association of childhood personality type with volunteering during adolescence. Merrill-Palmer Quarterly, 51, 145-162.

Hart, D., Atkins, R., Burock, D., London, B., & Bonilla-Santiago, G. (2005). The relation of personality type to salivary cortisol, classroom behavior, and academic achievement. European Journal of Personality, 19, 391-407.

Hart, D., Atkins, R., & Watson, N. C. (2005). How to start your own youth development micro-program. SRA Newsletter, Spring, 1.

Hart, D. (2005). The development of moral identity. In G. Carlo & C. P. Edwards (Eds.), Nebraska Symposium on Motivation: Vol. 51. Moral motivation through the lifespan (pp. 165-196). Lincoln: University of Nebraska Press.

Hart, D., Atkins, R., & Youniss, J. (2005). Knowledge, youth bulges, and rebellion. Psychological Science, 16, 661-662.

Atkins, R., & Hart, D. (2004). Moral identity development and school attachment. In D. Lapsley and D. Narvaez (Eds.) Morality, Self and Identity: Essays in Honor of Augusto BlasiHillsdale, NJ: Erlbaum.

Atkins, R. & Hart, D. (2003). Neighborhoods, adults, and the development of civic identity in urban youth. Applied Developmental Science, 7, 156-165.

Hart, D., Burock, D., & London, B. (2003). Prosocial tendencies, antisocial behavior, and moral development in childhood. In A. Slater & G. Bremner, (Eds.) Introduction to Developmental Psychology (pp. 334-356). Oxford: Blackwell

Hart, D., Burock, D., London, B., & Miraglia, A. (2003). Moral development in childhood. In M. H. Bornstein, L. Davidson, C. L. M. Keyes, K. A. Moore (Eds.) Well-being: Positive development across the lifespan (pp. 355-370). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates.

Hart, D., Southerland, N., & Atkins, R. (2003). Community service and adult development. In J. Demick & C. Andreoletti (Eds.) Handbook of adult development (pp. 585-597). New York, Plenum.

Hart, D., & Atkins, R. (2002). Civic development in urban youth. Applied Developmental Science, 6, 227-236.

Campbell Soup Foundation,"The Camden STARR Program" (2004, 2005, 2006).

United Way / JAWS Youth Fund Summer Camp, "The Camden STARR Program" (2006).

Johnson and Johnson Company, "Healthy Futures for Camden Youth" (2006).

Campbell Soup Foundation, "The Camden STARR Program" (2003).

Ameri*Corp, National Civilian Conservation Corp, “Healthy Futures for Camden Youth” (2003).

W.T. Grant Foundation, “The Development of Civic Competence in Adolescence” (2002-2004).

Campbell Soup Foundation, "The Camden STARR Program" (2002).

Ameri*Corp, National Civilian Conservation Corp, “Healthy Futures for Camden Youth” (2002).

Campbell Soup Foundation, "The Camden STARR Program" (2001).

Ameri*Corp, National Civilian Conservation Corp, “Healthy Futures for Camden Youth” (2001).

Johnson & Johnson Companies, “Healthy Futures for Camden Youth” (2000).

Ameri*Corp, National Civilian Conservation Corp, “Healthy Futures for Camden Youth” (2000).

Campbell Soup Foundation, "The Camden STARR Program" (2000).

Camden Empowerment Zone Corporation, “The Camden STARR Program” (1999).

Camden Empowerment Zone Corporation, “The Camden STARR Program” (1998).

Max Planck Institute, "Childhood Personality and Adolescent Development: A Longitudinal Study" (1994-1997).

The Prudential Foundation, "Parent-Adolescent Collaboration for Education" (1989).

The Lilly Endowment, "Inner-City Youth Committed to Care" (1989).

New Jersey Department of Higher Education, "Parent-Adolescent Collaboration for Education" (1989).

Radcliffe Research Support Award, "Adaptational Styles in Boys and Men: Rate of Change and Relationship to Other Variables" (1988).

Radcliffe Research Support Award, "The Development of the Ideal Self in Men from Adolescence through Adulthood" (1986).

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