Perspectives on Personality

The various perspectives of the field of personality provide the organizing framework for this text. Each perspective is presented in two chapters and is introduced by a prologue that describes the assumptions and themes of the perspective.

Perspectives on Personality, 6/e

 

As the book’s title implies, there are many perspectives a person might take on personality, and many ways to think about human nature. This book describes a range of viewpoints that are used by personality psychologists today. Each perspective on personality is presented in a pair of chapters, introduced by a prologue. The prologue provides an overview of that perspective’s orienting assumptions and core themes. By starting with these orienting assumptions, you’ll be placed right inside the thought processes of the theorists as you go on to read the chapters. Each chapter concludes with a discussion of current problems within that theoretical viewpoint and the authors’ analysis about its future prospects. Writing in an informal, conversational style, Carver and Scheier draw readers into the ideas and give them examples of how these ideas apply to their own lives. The result is a book that is engaging and enjoyable as well as informative.

 

 

New to this Edition:

• Updated content reflects four years of rapid change in the research literature of personality psychology.
• Provides the most up-to-date treatment available! The incredibly rapid advances in behavioral genetics, molecular genetics, temperament, neurotransmitters, and other biological processes have been integrated into Chapter 6, “Interitance, Evolution, and Personality,” and an extensively reorganized Chapter 7, “Biological Processes and Personality.”
• Includes new material and reorganization in Part 8, “The Cognitive Self-Regulation Perspective,” including a discussion of connectionist models, contextual models of behavior, and a discussion of the process by which intentions are implemented.
• Includes 300 new citations, ensuring that the newest research is well represented.