Personality Theory and Research

Authoritative resource exploring the fundamental theories and concepts in the field of personality psychology

In Personality, psychodynamic, social-cognitive, phenomenological, and trait-theoretic perspectives are presented in an unbiased—yet critical—fashion that encourages students to compare theories, evaluate evidence, analyze data, and form their own conclusions. Thorough historical coverage of the subject is balanced with discussions of the current state of the field, providing a solid understanding of theory and methods as relevant to practice today.

The text provides a comparative learning framework that capitalizes on student intuition to encourage critical thinking and self-exploration and highlights the contributions of neuroscience in advancing all aspects of personality theory and research. Complex ideas are presented in an accessible, easy-to-follow style that directly engages students without oversimplifying critical points. To aid in reader comprehension, the text incorporates case studies to illustrate general concepts through specific examples. As a practical resource, the well qualified author emphasizes major theories over those with little relevance to the modern field.

Some of the theories and topics explored in Personality include:

• Personality theory from everyday observation to systematic theories, including defining personality, why study personality, and three goals for the personality theorist
• The scientific study of people, including the data of personality psychology and contemporary developments in personality research
• Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, including its applications, related theoretical conceptions, and related contemporary research, plus information on psychopathology
• Biological foundations of personality, including genes’ relationship with personality and neuroscientific investigations of “higher-level” psychological functions
• Augmented coverage of personality and culture.
• Augmented coverage of personality and the brain.
• Flexible organization and revised exposition: Following the first two introductory chapters, remaining chapters may be read in any order without the reading feeling disjointed or lacking in continuity.
• Ancillary resources and references (which accompany the book on the instructor companion site) are significantly updated and include a new series of Case Simulations and accompanying questions designed to engage students through application of theory in real-world contexts.

With an effective pedagogical structure that enhances student interest while strengthening objectivity and critical-thinking skills, Personality is suitable for introductory coursework and also serves as a valuable resource for advanced studies and as a reference for professionals in psychology and related fields.

Daniel Cervone is Professor of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He earned his PhD in Psychology from Stanford University in 1985. In addition to his time at UIC, Dr. Cervone has been a visiting faculty member at the University of Washington and at the University of Rome La Sapienza, and has been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences. He has co-authored or edited numerous volumes in personality science, including Albert Bandura’s Social Cognitive Theory: An Agentic Perspective on Human Nature (Wiley, 2023).

Preface vii

1 Personality Theory: From Observation to Scientific Explanation 1

Defining Personality, 4

Three Goals for the Personality Theorist, 6

Answering Questions about Persons Scientifically: Understanding Structures, Processes, Development, and Therapeutic Change, 10

Important Issues in Personality Theory, 17

Evaluating Personality Theories, 23

The Personality Theories: An Introduction, 24

Major Concepts, 28

Review, 28

2 The Scientific Study of People 29

Personality Research: The Data, 31

Personality Research: Research Designs, 35

Contemporary Developments in Personality Research: Social Media and Language-Based Assessments, 45

Personality Assessment and the Case of Jim, 48

Vive la Différence: Conceptual Distinctions in Personality Research, 49

Major Concepts, 56

Review, 56

3 A Psychodynamic Theory: Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality 57

Sigmund Freud (1856-1939): A View of the Theorist, 58

Freud's View of the Person, 60

Freud's View of the Science of Personality, 63

Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory of Personality, 64

Major Concepts, 87

Review, 87

4 Freud's Psychoanalytic Theory: Applications, Related Theoretical Conceptions, and Contemporary Research 89

Psychodynamic Personality Assessment: Projective Tests, 90

Psychopathology, 96

Psychological Change, 99

The Case of Jim, 104

Related Theoretical Conceptions, 107

Contemporary Developments in Personality Theory: Neuropsychoanalysis, 122

Critical Evaluation, 127

Major Concepts, 131

Review, 131

5 A Phenomenological Theory: The Personality Theory of Rogers 133

Carl R. Rogers (1902-1987): A View of the Theorist, 135

Rogers's View of the Person, 137

Rogers's View of the Science of Personality, 139

The Personality Theory of Carl Rogers, 140

Major Concepts, 153

Review, 153

6 Rogers's Phenomenological Theory: Applications, Related Theoretical Conceptions, and Contemporary Research 154

Clinical Applications, 155

The Case of Jim, 162

Related Conceptions: Human Potential, Positive Psychology, and Existentialism, 164

Developments in Research: The Self and Authenticity, 172

Contemporary Developments in Personality Theory: Personality Systems Interaction Theory and the Integrated Self, 179

Personality Systems Interaction Theory, 180

Illustrative Research, 183

Implications for Rogers's Self Theory of Personality, 183

Critical Evaluation, 184

Major Concepts, 188

Review, 188

7 Trait Theories of Personality: Allport, Eysenck, and Cattell 189

A View of the Trait Theorists, 190

Trait Theory's View of the Person, 191

Trait Theory's View of the Science of Personality, 192

Trait Theories of Personality: Basic Perspectives Shared by Trait Theorists, 194

The Trait Theory of Gordon W. Allport (1897-1967), 195

Identifying Primary Trait Dimensions: Factor Analysis, 198

The Factor-Analytic Trait Theory of Raymond B. Cattell (1905-1998), 200

The Three-Factor Theory of Hans J. Eysenck (1916-1997), 204

Major Concepts, 212

Review, 212

8 Trait Theory: The Five-Factor Model and Contemporary Developments 214

On Taxonomies of Personality, 215

The Five-Factor Model of Personality: Research Evidence, 216

Five-Factor Theory, 226

Maybe We Missed One? The Six-Factor Model, 229

Cross-cultural Research: Are the Big Five Dimensions Universal?, 229

Contemporary Developments in Trait Theory: Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory, 234

The Case of Jim--Factor-Analytic Trait-Based Assessment, 240

The Person-Situation Controversy, 243

Critical Evaluation, 245

Major Concepts, 249

Review, 249

9 Behaviorism and The Learning Approaches To Personality 251

Behaviorism's View of the Person, 254

Behaviorism's View of the Science of Personality, 254

Watson, Pavlov, and Classical Conditioning, 258

Skinner's Theory of Operant Conditioning, 268

Critical Evaluation, 278

Major Concepts, 281

Review, 281

10 A Cognitive Theory: George A. Kelly's Personal Construct Theory of Personality 282

George A. Kelly (1905-1966): A View of the Theorist, 285

Kelly's View of the Science of Personality, 286

Kelly's View of the Person, 287

The Personality Theory of George A. Kelly, 288

Clinical Applications, 301

The Case of Jim, 304

Related Points of View and Recent Developments, 305

Critical Evaluation, 306

Major Concepts, 310

Review, 310

11 Social-Cognitive Theory: Bandura and Mischel 311

Relating Social-Cognitive Theory to Historically Prior Theories, 312

A View of the Theorists, 313

Social-Cognitive Theory's View of the Person, 316

Social-Cognitive Theory's View of the Science of Personality, 317

Social-Cognitive Theory of Personality: Structure, 317

Social-Cognitive Theory of Personality: Process, 325

Social-Cognitive Theory of Growth and Development, 329

Major Concepts, 341

Review, 341

12 Social-Cognitive Theory: Applications, Related Theoretical Conceptions, and Contemporary Developments 342

Beliefs About the Self and Self-Schemas, 344

Standards of Evaluation and Self-Discrepancies, 352

Contemporary Developments in Personality Theory: The KAPA Model, 354

Clinical Applications, 361

Stress, Coping, and Cognitive Therapy, 366

The Case of Jim, 370

Critical Evaluation, 372

Major Concepts, 375

Review, 375

13 Culture, Interpersonal Relations, and the Social Foundations of Personality and Its Development 376

Persons in Cultures, 378

Broad Cultural Differences: Western and Eastern Views of Self, 385

Societies within Cultures: Social Practices and Personality Development, 389

Personality Development in Socioeconomic Context, 393

Personality Functioning Across the Life Span, 396

Interpersonal Relationships, 398

Putting Personality in Context into Practice, 404

Summary, 409

Major Concepts, 409

Review, 409

14 Genes, Brains, and Biological Bases of Personality and its Development 411

This illustration shows the location through which an iron rod blasted through the frontal cortex of Phineas Gage--who survived the accident but experienced a profound change in his personality., 412

Temperament, 413

Evolution, Evolutionary Psychology, and Personality, 436

Mood, Emotion, and the Brain, 446

Plasticity: Biology as Both Cause and Effect, 451

Neuroscientific Investigations of "Higher-Level" Psychological Functions, 452

Summary, 453

Major Concepts, 453

Review, 453

15 Assessing Personality Theory and Research 455

The Personality Theories: Similarities, Differences, and Integration, 456

What an Integrative Theory Might Look Like, 460

How Did They Do? A Critical Evaluation of the Personality Theories and Their Research, 461

A Final Summing Up: Theories as Toolkits, 466

Review, 467

Glossary G-1

References R-1

Author Index I-1

Subject Index I-00