Capturing a scientific change in thinking about personality and individual differences, this volume provides theories and empirical evidence which suggest that personality and individual differences are central to evolved psychological mechanisms and behavioural functioning.

How do we come to be who we are? Why do we differ in our personalities? How do these differences matter in life? Individual Differences and Personality aims to describe how and why personality varies among people. Unlike books that focus on individual theorists, this book focuses on current research and theory on the nature of personality and related individual differences. The book begins by discussing how personality is measured, the concept of a personality trait, and the basic dimensions of personality. This leads to a discussion of the origins of personality, with descriptions of its developmental course, its biological causes, its genetic and environmental influences, and its evolutionary function. The concept of a personality disorder is then described, followed by a discussion of the influence of personality on life outcomes in relationships, work, and health. Finally, the book examines the important differences between individuals in the realms of mental abilities, of beliefs and attitudes, and of behavior. - Presents a scientific approach to personality and related individual differences, as well as theory and research on the fundamental questions about human psychological variation - New edition presents findings from dozens of new research studies of the past six years - Includes new chapter on vocational interests and a revised chapter on personality disorders reflecting DSM-5 formulation - Contains streamlined descriptions of measurement concepts and heritability research - Includes various boxes containing interesting asides that help to maintain the student's attention

Volume 1, Models and Theories of The Wiley Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences The Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences (EPID) is organized into four volumes that look at the many likenesses and differences between individuals. Each of these four volumes focuses on a major content area in the study of personality psychology and individuals' differences. The first volume, Models and Theories, surveys the significant classic and contemporary viewpoints, perspectives, models, and theoretical approaches to the study of personality and individuals' differences (PID). The second volume on Measurement and Assessment examines key classic and modern methods and techniques of assessment in the study of PID. Volume III, titled Personality Processes and Individuals Differences, covers the important traditional and current dimensions, constructs, and traits in the study of PID. The final volume discusses three major categories: clinical contributions, applied research, and cross-cultural considerations, and touches on topics such as culture and identity, multicultural identities, cross-cultural examinations of trait structures and personality processes, and more. Each volume contains approximately 100 entries on personality and individual differences written by a diverse international panel of leading psychologists Covers significant classic and contemporary personality psychology models and theories, measurement and assessment techniques, personality processes and individuals differences, and research Provides a comprehensive and in-depth overview of the field of personality psychology The Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences is an important resource for all psychology students and professionals engaging in the study and research of personality.

The Wiley-Blackwell Handbook of Individual Differences provides a comprehensive, up-to-date overview of recent research, current perspectives, practical applications, and likely future developments in individual differences. Brings together the work of the top global researchers within the area of individual differences, including Philip L. Ackerman, Ian J. Deary, Ed Diener, Robert Hogan, Deniz S. Ones and Dean Keith Simonton Covers methodological, theoretical and paradigm changes in the area of individual differences Individual chapters cover core areas of individual differences including personality and intelligence, biological causes of individual differences, and creativity and emotional intelligence

In this book Frank Dumont presents personality psychology with a fresh description of its current status as well as its prospects. Play, sex, cuisine, creativity, altruism, pets, grieving rituals, and other oft-neglected topics broaden the scope of this fascinating study. This tract is imbued with historical perspectives that reveal the continuity in the evolving science and research of this discipline over the past century. The author places classic schemas and constructs, as well as current principles, in the context of their socio-political catalysts. He further relates this study of the person to life-span developmental issues and to cultural, gender-specific, trait-based, genetic/epigenetic, and evolutionary research findings. Personality psychology has recently reconciled itself to more modest paradigms for describing, explaining, and predicting human behaviour than it generated in the 19th and 20th centuries. This book documents that transformation, providing valuable information for health-service professionals as well as to teachers, researchers, and scientists.

The transformative wave of Darwinian insight continues to expand throughout the human sciences. While still centered on evolution-focused fields such as evolutionary psychology, ethology, and human behavioral ecology, this insight has also influenced cognitive science, neuroscience, feminist discourse, sociocultural anthropology, media studies, and clinical psychology. This handbook's goal is to amplify the wave by bringing together world-leading experts to provide a comprehensive and up-to-date overview of evolution-oriented and influenced fields. While evolutionary psychology remains at the core of the collection, it also covers the history, current standing, debates, and future directions of the panoply of fields entering the Darwinian fold. As such, The Cambridge Handbook of Evolutionary Perspectives on Human Behavior is a valuable reference not just for evolutionary psychologists but also for scholars and students from many fields who wish to see how the evolutionary perspective is relevant to their own work.

In Pathways to Individuality, veteran researcher and scholar Arnold Buss examines the personality traits we share with other animals-and those that set us apart from other animals, the social traits that make us distinctly human. Within those general social traits, there's much variability, as Buss explains in this new book, usually differentiated during the crucial periods of human development-and that's what makes us individuals. Humans make up the only species that has an extended period of childhood-we play and explore more than other animals-during which our human traits become canalized and differentiated: Our early interactions with our social environment influence and sharpen the neural and behavioral pathways that distinguish our distinct individuality. In turn, we seek to influence those environments we are drawn to and that help shape our individuality. Drawing from his own published research over a half-century of teaching and writing on personality, Buss masterfully summarizes key theories and recent advances in the study of temperament (aggression, dominance, etc.), the self (self-conscious shyness, self-esteem, identity), and abnormal behavior and style as crucial dimensions in understanding personality and individual differences.