Gary T. Reker
Professor

Research interests:

I am interested in the investigation of the quality of life across the life span with

particular emphasis on successful aging.  I am an advocate of the “salutogenic”

approach, an orientation that promotes positive, healthy aging.  I am particularly

interested in the investigation of existential constructs such as personal meaning,

spirituality, choice/responsibleness, and personal optimism and how these moderate

and/or mediate between sources of stress and physical and mental health.  I have

a secondary interest in the development of measuring instruments in the areas of

personality, existential meaning, existential regret, attitudes toward death, spirituality,

stress and coping, resilience, and well-being.

Selected publications

Reker, G.T. (2005).  Meaning in life of young, middle-aged, and older adults: Factorial validity, age

   and gender invariance of the Personal Meaning Index (PMI).  Personality and Individual Differences, 38, 71-85.

Reker, G.T. (2004).  Challenges and opportunities: Response to Paul T.P Wong’s editorial, “Existential

   Psychology for the 21st Century”.  International Journal of Existential Psychology and Psychotheraphy, 1, 111-112.

Reker, G.T. (2002).  Prospective predictors of successful aging in community-residing and institutionalized

   Canadian elderly.  Ageing International, 27, 42-64.

Reker, G.T., & Chamberlain, K. (Eds.) (2000).  Exploring existential meaning: Optimizing human development across

   the life span.  Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage Publication.

Reker, G.T., & Fry, P.S. (2003).  Factor structure and invariance of personal meaning measures in cohorts of

   younger and older adults.  Personality and Individual Differences, 35, 997-993.

Wong, P.T.P., Reker, G.T., & Gesser, G. (1994).  The Death Attitude Profile-Revised: A multidimensional measure

    of attitudes towards death.  In R.A. Neimeyer (Ed.), Death anxiety handbook: Research, instrumentation, and application

    (pp. 121-148).  Washington, DC: Taylor and Francis.

Wong, P.T.P., Reker, G.T., & Peacock, E.J. (2005).  A resource-congruence model of coping and the development of the

    Coping Schemas Inventory.  In P.T.P. Wong and L.C.J. Wong (Eds.), Handbook of multicultural perspectives on stress

    and coping (Chapter 11, pp. 223-283).

Test Manuals

Reker, G.T. (2003).  Provisional manual of the Spiritual Transcendence Scale (STS-24).  Peterborough, ON: Student

   Psychologists Press.

Reker, G.T. (1996).   Manual of the Sources of Meaning Profile-Revised (SOMP-R).  Peterborough, ON: Student

   Psychologists Press.

Reker, G.T. (1995).  Reliability and Validity of the Perceived Well-Being Scale-Revised (PWB-R).  Peterborough, ON: Student

   Psychologists Press.

Reker, G.T. (1992).  Manual of the Life Attitude Profile-Revised (LAP-R).  Peterborough, ON: Student Psychologists Press.