Persons in Context: Building a Science of the Individual

A major development in psychological science is increased recognition that persons and environments constitute dynamically interacting systems. This book presents advances from internationally renowned researchers in personality, social, cognitive, developmental, and cultural psychology, and other fields, who construct a science of the individual by studying individuals in context. Contributors build on seminal work by Walter Mischel (especially his citation classic, "Toward a Cognitive Social Learning Reconceptualization of Personality," reprinted in the volume). A commentary from Mischel himself places the contributions in historical perspective and articulates the novel portrait of human nature that they yield.

Yuichi Shoda, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Washington. After studying physics at Hokkaido University in Sapporo, Japan, he studied psychology at the University of California, Santa Cruz, and at Stanford University, and received his doctorate at Columbia University. Dr. Shoda’s research is aimed at identifying and understanding stable and distinctive within-person patterns of variation in the ever-changing stream, over time and across situations, of an individual’s cognition, affect, and behavior.

Daniel Cervone, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Psychology at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He received his doctorate at Stanford University; has held visiting faculty positions at the University of Washington and the University of Rome, La Sapienza; has been a fellow at the Center for Advanced Study in the Behavioral Sciences; and has served as associate editor of the Journal of Research in Personality. Dr. Cervone’s main work involves the development of a conceptual model of the architecture of personality systems and of idiographic, person-centered methods that follow from that model.

Geraldine Downey, PhD, is Vice Provost for Diversity Initiatives and a Professor in the Department of Psychology at Columbia University. She received her BS in psychology from University College, Dublin, and her MA and PhD in developmental psychology from Cornell University. Her work focuses on the personal and interpersonal costs of rejection by significant others and social groups. Dr. Downey is also interested in identifying personal and contextual resources that can ameliorate and remediate the harm of social rejection and marginalization.