Individual Differences and Personality

Individual Differences and Personality, Third Edition provides a comprehensive overview of research on personality. The book begins with the main approaches to the study of personality, basic principles of personality measurement, the concept of personality traits, and the major dimensions of personality variation. Further chapters review personality change and stability, biological causal mechanisms, genetic and environmental influences and evolutionary adaptive function.

Personality disorders are examined as are life outcomes—such as relationships, work, health, and others—that are predicted by personality characteristics. The book additionally examines important individual differences, such as mental abilities, vocational interests, religious beliefs, political attitudes and sexuality.

The third edition is updated with new findings on age-related differences in personality, on sexual orientation and personality, on socially desirable responding in personality assessment, and on the biological and social origins of mental ability differences. Treatments of several topics have been streamlined, including reliability and validity, developmental change, genetic and environmental influences and the structure of mental abilities.

Organized by issues in personality research rather than by theoristsIdentifies main traits in personality and explains personality assessmentExamines the impact of personality on life outcomesExplores developmental, genetic and evolutionary aspects of personalityIncludes other psychological characteristics (abilities, interests, beliefs and attitudes)Test bank included on the instructor website

1. Basic Concepts in Psychological Measurement 2. Personality Traits and the Inventories that Measure Them 3. Personality Structure: Classifying Traits 4. Developmental Change and Stability of Personality 5. Biological Bases of Personality 6. Genetic and Environmental Influences on Personality 7. The Evolutionary Function of Personality 8. Personality Disorders 9. Personality and Life Outcomes 10. Mental Ability 11. Vocational Interests 12. Religion and Politics 13. Sexuality