Table of Contents
Half-title
Title
Copyright
Dedication
Contents
Figures
Tables
Boxes
Preface to the third edition
Preface to the second edition
Preface to the first edition
PART I The nature of personality traits
1 The trait concept and personality theory
Introduction: conceptions of traits
Everyday conceptions of traits
Scientific conceptions of traits
A brief history of traits
The four humours
Beginnings of the science of traits
The first empirical studies
The beginnings of trait theory
Psychometric approaches to identifying personality dimensions
Questionnaire construction and psychometrics
Psychometrics of single scales
Psychometrics of multiple traits: factor analysis
Limitations of factor analysis
Further techniques of factor analysis
Primary factors of personality: the 16PF and other questionnaires
The Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire (16PF)
Other systems of primary factors
Higher-order factors: the 'Big Five’ or the 'Gigantic Three’?
H. J. Eysenck's three factor model
Five factor models: Costa and McCrae, and others
Current conceptions of personality structure
The consensus from the lexical approach
The consensus from questionnaire studies
Remaining doubts: psychometric and theoretical issues
Conclusions
Further reading
2 Persons, situations and interactionism
Traits and situations
The situationist critique of traits
Testing consistency in empirical studies
Consistency of behaviour: the role of context
Implications of the situationist controversy for trait research
Interactionism
Are traits universal across cultures?
Cross-cultural research on traits
Interactions of personality and culture
Cross-cultural generality of traits: conclusions
Conclusions
Further reading
3 Personality across the life span
Trait stability
Empirical studies of stability
Studies of the Big Five and Eysenck traits
Stability: further issues
Temperament
Measures of temperament
The relationship between temperament and personality
Temperament, personality and stability: longitudinal studies
Conclusions
Further reading
4 Stable traits and transient states
Introduction: the place of states in trait theory
Trait-state models
Zuckerman's criteria for state measures
States as mediators of trait effects
State dimensions: affect, mood and self-report arousal
Two mood dimensions: energy and tension
Three-dimensional models: separating pleasure from arousal
Differentiating negative emotions
Validity of mood scales
Beyond mood: additional state domains
Cognitive aspects of state
Subjective states and the 'trilogy of mind’
Traits and states: empirical studies
Correlational studies: extraversion and neuroticism
Beyond positive and negative affectivity: other traits, other states
Experimental studies
Explaining the state correlates of extraversion and neuroticism
Conclusions
Further reading
Note
5 Alternative views of personality: challenges to trait theory
Traits in psychodynamic theory
The contribution of psychoanalysis
Correspondences between psychodynamic and trait approaches to personality structure
Empirical studies of psychoanalysis and personality
The unconscious: contemporary studies
Experimental studies of the unconscious
Implications for trait theory
Assessment of implicit traits
The Implicit Association Test
Other implicit personality tests
Critique of implicit tests
Humanistic and phenomenological approaches
Investigating the self
The self-construction of personality
Conflict and pathology
Self-actualisation
Contemporary studies of self-directed motivation
Conclusions
PART II Causes of personality traits
6 Genes, environments and personality traits
Introduction
Three basic designs
Twin studies
Adoption studies
Molecular genetic (quantitative trait loci, QTL) studies
Twin studies
A gene–environment model of extraversion in five twin studies
Non-additive genetic variance
The equal environments assumption
Other research designs
Adoption studies
Twin family studies
Separated twin studies
Modelling all study designs together
Genes, environment and multiple personality traits
Further issues in genetic research
The environment
Personality change
Genetic covariation
Molecular genetic studies of personality
Conclusions
Further reading
7 The psychobiology of traits
Introduction: neuropsychological approaches to personality
Ground-plans for neuropsychological theory
Eysenck's (1967) arousal theory
An alternative conceptual nervous system: Gray (1991)
The complexity of personality: Zuckermans (2005) model
From brain to behaviour: testing neuropsychological theories
Psychophysiological techniques: an outline and examples
Electroencephalography (EEG)
Brain average evoked potentials (EPs)
Electrodermal activity
Heart rate
Functional brain imaging techniques
Personality and brain imaging
PET and SPET studies
fMRI studies
MRI, personality traits and molecular genetics
Personality and arousal: towards an integrated theory?
The arousal concept
Predicting relationships between personality and arousal
Studies of extraversion, the EEG and evoked potentials
Extraversion and the autonomic nervous system
Neuroticism and arousal
Psychoticism, impulsivity and sensation seeking
Traits and arousal: conclusions
Personality and sensitivity to motivational stimuli
Initial studies
Revisions to RST
Reinforcement Sensitivity Theory: conclusions
Psychophysiology: where next?
Conclusions
Further reading
8 The social psychology of traits
Introduction: personality and social behaviour
Social-cognitive approaches to personality
Traits and social behaviour
A social-psychological agenda for trait psychology
Personality development: social-psychological perspectives
Interactionist perspectives on development
Development of self-efficacy
Individual differences in attachment
Consistencies in social knowledge and cognition
The self-schema
Social-cognitive perspectives on behavioural (in)consistency
Traits and processes: agreeableness and social behaviour
Agreeableness and social behaviour
Cognitive substrate of agreeableness
'Social-psychological’ traits
Belief and attitude systems
Self-related traits
A rapprochement between social psychology and trait theory?
Conclusions
Further reading
PART III Consequences and applications
9 Stress
Introduction: the nature of stress
Defining stress
Measuring stress
Stress and physiological reactivity
Individual differences in the physiological stress response
Neuroticism and stress vulnerability
Neuroticism and stress outcomes in everyday life
Vulnerability to psychiatric symptoms
The problem of subjectivity: causal relationships between neuroticism and stress
Transactional perspectives on personality and stress: mediator and moderator hypotheses
Transactional models of stress: appraisal
Coping
Traits and the transactional model
Mediators of neuroticism
Additional traits for stress vulnerability
Extraversion
Locus of control
Optimism and hope
Dispositional self-consciousness
Resources influencing secondary cognitive appraisal
Social support
Spiritual or religious coping
Neuroticism, stress and emotional disorders: a self-regulative perspective
Building a self-regulative model: basic constructs
Neuroticism within the SREF model
Vulnerability factors in mental disorder
Conclusions
Further reading
10 Traits and health
Introduction
Models of the association between personality and health
Personality and longevity
Heart disease
Personality and myocardial infarction
Cancer
Neuroticism as a risk factor for multiple diseases
Stress and health
Stress and coronary disease
Stress and the common cold
Stress buffers: optimism, hope, spirituality and happiness in relation to illness
Traits and health-related behaviours
Life course approaches to personality, stress and illness
Models of psychosomatic illness
Conclusions
Further reading
11 Abnormal personality traits?
Personality disorders: concept and classification
History of personality disorder concepts
Classificatory schemes for personality disorder
Personality disorders: descriptions of the individual disorders
Problems with personality disorders in current categorical systems
The problems of labelling and tautology
The problem of construct overlap
Improving the validity of personality disorder constructs
Disorder in the DSM system of personality disorder
Are there abnormal personality traits?
Dimensional models of abnormal personality
A dimensional model for the personality disorders
The four As model of personality disorder
Individual dimensions of abnormal personality
Personality disorders and models of normal personality: integrating psychiatry and differential psychology?
The five factor model as a basis for integration
DSM-IV personality disorders and the Cloninger and Eysenck personality systems
Similar hierarchies in normal and abnormal personality
Conclusions
Further reading
12 Personality, performance and information processing
Performance studies and trait theory
Moderator factors: context-sensitivity and task-dependence
Key traits in performance research
Theories of personality and performance
Psychobiological theories
Cognitive psychological alternatives
Cognitive neuroscience approaches
Extraversion–introversion and performance
The cognitive patterning of extraversion
Psychobiological explanations for cognitive patterning
Cognitive-psychological explanations
Extraversion and performance: conclusions
Trait anxiety, neuroticism and performance
Basic empirical findings
Anxiety and performance impairment
Anxiety and attentional bias
Anxiety and performance: conclusions
Personality and intelligence
Empirical associations between personality and intelligence
Creativity and the personality–intelligence interface
Conclusions
Further reading
13 Applications of personality assessment
Principles of trait assessment
Choice of questionnaire
Comprehensive or targeted assessment?
General or contextualised measurement?
Broad or narrow traits
Evaluation of questionnaires
Response bias
Response styles
Impression management
Self-deception
Practical issues
Decision-making
Ethical and legal issues
Educational and clinical applications
Educational psychology
Clinical psychology
Personality and job performance
Meta-analyses of the Big Five
Organisational correlates of personality: moderator variables
Organisational psychology: further applications
Contextual performance
Vocational choice
Career progression and change
Work satisfaction and stress
Emotional intelligence
Assessment of emotional intelligence
Applications to organisational psychology
Conclusions
Further reading
14 Conclusions
Achievements of trait research
Psychometric issues
Biological bases of personality
Integration with mainstream psychology
Applications of trait theory
Towards a theory of traits
Traditional biological theories of personality
Multi-component approaches
A cognitive-adaptive theory
Traits and the coherence of personality theory
Conclusions
References
Author index
Subject index
