Skip to main content

People

A portrait of an individual in a blue collared shirt and tie with a neutral studio backdrop.

Sam Hardy

Sam grew up in the farming town of Oakley, ID. As a young lad, he thought he would grow up to be a vet, a pet store owner, a rock star, a DJ, or a professional basketball player, depending on when you asked him. Instead, he ended up being a psychology professor. He got his BA in human development at BYU, and his PhD in developmental psychology at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. He has been a professor at BYU since 2007. Sam is married and has two teenage boys and two cute doodle girls. His hobbies are drumming, cooking, playing with his dogs, reading, and watching movies, sports, concert videos, or cooking shows. Sam has been studying adolescent development for over two decades. He has conducted research on moral development, identity formation, religion and spirituality, positive youth development, motivation, parenting, and teen risk behaviors. Currently his research focuses on religious/spiritual development, particularly processes of conversion and deconversion.

Current Graduate Students

A person with long blonde hair wearing a royal‑blue top posed against a dark studio background.


Emily Taylor



Former Graduate Students

A person with long brown hair wearing a black sweater and collared shirt outdoors.


Jenae Nelson



An individual with long brown hair in a black sweater and collared shirt, outside among green trees.


Amber Cazzell


Undergraduate Research Assistants

 person in a light blue shirt standing on a beach with ocean waves in the background.


Camron Angell


A person in a light blue T‑shirt and black leggings standing outdoors near thick green bushes.


Emelia Call-Tadje


A person in a light blue button‑up shirt standing on a wooded path with mountains in the distance.


Parker Gardner



A person in a dark jacket taking a selfie in a busy study area with students at tables behind.


Andrew Moss



A person in a black T‑shirt and jeans posing in a grassy field with trees in the background.


Emilia Rabe


An individual in an orange sweater and patterned dress on a forest path surrounded by fall colors.


Hailey Richmond



An individual dressed in a white collared shirt posed against a softly lit, plain backdrop.


Alejandro Rodriguez



A person in a white graphic T‑shirt and brown skirt standing in a desert landscape with red rocks.


Elena Storms