Individual Differences and Personality (eBook)

Individual Differences and Personality, Fourth Edition provides a comprehensive overview of research, including what personality is and how and why it differs between people. The book begins with a description of the study of personality and then presents 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 well as 'life outcomes' (e.g., relationships, work, health, etc.) which are predicted by personality characteristics.

In addition, the book examines important individual differences, such as mental abilities, religious beliefs, political attitudes and sexuality. Updates in this new edition include new content on measurement, understanding correlations and reliability, results from large sample size studies on developmental change, stability of personality, and much more.

• Contains both theory and research
• Examines the impact of personality on life outcomes
• Includes new content from meta-analyses and large sample size studies
• Retains chapters and organization with fully updated material
• Explores environmental, genetic and evolutionary perspectives
• Presents an accessible style that is suitable for courses on individual differences

Michael C. Ashton is a professor of psychology at Brock University in St. Catharines, Ontario. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Western Ontario in 1998. As a grad student in the late 1990s, together with Kibeom Lee, he did some cross-cultural research to find out whether the 'Big Five” personality dimensions found in North America could be recovered in other cultures. Using their own work and that of other researchers, they found that there were actually six personality dimensions. The 'new” one was the H factor, or the Honesty-Humility Factor, was discovered and is now considered one of the six dimensions of human personality. In addition to the second edition of the textbook, Individual Differences and Personality, he is the author of numerous articles in scientific journals, and co-authored with Kibeom Lee The H Factor of Personality.

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Individual Differences and Personality, Fourth Edition provides a comprehensive overview of research regarding what personality is and how and why it differs between people. This book begins with a description of the study of personality and then presents 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, and health) that are predicted by personality characteristics. In addition, the book examines important individual differences beyond personality, such as mental abilities, religious beliefs, political attitudes, and sexuality. Revisions to the fourth edition include updates to all chapters and substantial new content. For example, the developmental change chapter includes new studies of long-term stability, and the biological bases chapter includes new research about the effects of dopamine-like substances on impulse control. The genetics chapter has been heavily revised to cover recent meta-analyses and large-scale studies of the heritability of personality traits. In the chapter on the evolutionary function of personality, the discussion of sex differences is expanded to include cross-cultural variation. The chapter on personality and life outcomes includes new coverage of rating the personality of one's hypothetical ideal partner. The chapter on mental ability has updates on brain volume and IQ and on motivation and IQ. Contains both theory and research Examines the impact of personality on life outcomes Includes new content from meta-analyses Retains chapters and organization with fully updated material Explores environmental, genetic and evolutionary perspectives Presents an accessible style that is suitable for courses on individual differences