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Educational psychologist Dr. Kendra Thomas studies youth perceptions of justice and virtue development, particularly in contexts of high inequality.

She teaches Developmental Psychology and Global Child Flourishing, and she loves involving students in her research projects serving schools and nonprofits in Brazil and in South Africa.

Originally from Brazil, she moved to the United States to pursue higher education, earning her Ph.D. in educational psychology with a concentration in human development from Ball State University. Before joining the Hope faculty in 2022, she served as an assistant professor of psychology at the University of Indianapolis.

Dr. Thomas has longstanding research partnerships with the University of S茫o Paulo, Federal University of Paran谩 and iThemba Projects (a South African nonprofit). She has also published essays about developmental psychology in and .

Areas of Expertise

Dr. Thomas specializes in child and adolescent development and partners with schools and nonprofits to design and assess interventions that support healthy relationships, foster virtue, and prevent violence and despair. She recently began writing curriculum for use in undergraduate developmental psychology courses across the U.S., as a co-author of Kathleen Berger鈥檚 textbook series The Developing Person.

Her other current projects focus on studying hope as a virtue in adversity, equipping parents, teachers and adolescents. She is committed to using academic research for community development and translating developmental science for broad audiences.

Education

• Ph.D., educational psychology, Ball State University, 2015
• M.A., educational psychology, Ball State University, 2013
• B.A., psychology, Taylor University, 2012

GRANTS AND HONORS

• 鈥淵outh Hope and Flourishing: A Holistic Perspective in a Context of Systemic Adversity,鈥� John Templeton Foundation grant, 2025鈥�2028
• 鈥淰irtuous Hope: Fostering Ithemba through Stories and Actions,鈥� John Templeton Foundation grant, 2023鈥�2025
• 鈥淐onviver: Enhancing Social Responsibility and Prosocial Leadership in Elementary School Children in Brazil,鈥� Templeton World Charity Foundation grant, 2019鈥�2022
• Invited member of the Educating Character Initiative Advisory Board, 2024鈥�26

Selected Publications

• 鈥淗ope as a Virtue: Toward a Theoretically Grounded Measure in English, isiZulu, and Portuguese,鈥� with K. Rand, S. Rogers, R. Henry and C. Witvliet, Applied Developmental Science, 2025
• 鈥淒evelopmental Imagination: Teaching Students to Think Like a Developmentalist,鈥� with K. Berger, Human Development, 2025
• 鈥淗opeful Parenting: A Systematic Literature Review on Hope among Parents,鈥� authored with eight Hope College students, Hoang et al., International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 2024
• 鈥淗oping and Caregiving in Adversity: Ithemba Hope for Parents Study,鈥� with K. Valentino and L. Matabaro, International Journal of Applied Positive Psychology, 2024
• 鈥淛ustice for Me and for All: Longitudinal Analysis of Justice Perceptions across Demographic Indicators,鈥� with H. Rodrigues and A. Komatsu, Journal of Research in Adolescence, 2024
• 鈥淛ust Environments Foster Character: A Longitudinal Assessment of School Climate,鈥� with J. B. Santo and J .M. Cunha, Journal of Moral Education, 2022
• 鈥淎 Dark Lens or a Dark World? Conceptualising Justice Capital,鈥� International Journal of Psychology, 2022

Outside the College

Dr. Thomas has two young kids, and her hobbies include going to the playground, picking socks up off the floor and reading picture books.