Personality and Individual Differences: Revisiting the Classic Studies(Psychology: Revisiting the Classic Studies)

Revisiting the Classic Studies is a series of texts that introduces readers to the studies in psychology that changed the way we think about core topics in the discipline today. It provokes students to ask more interesting and challenging questions about the field by encouraging a deeper level of engagement, both with the details of the studies themselves and with the nature of their contribution. Edited by leading scholars in their field and written by researchers at the cutting edge of these developments, the chapters in each text provide details of the original works and their theoretical and empirical impact, and then discuss the ways in which thinking and research has advanced in the years since the studies were conducted. Personality and Individual Differences: Revisiting the Classic Studies traces 14 ground-breaking studies by researchers such as Hans Eysenck, Raymond Cattell, Ernest Tupes and Raymond Christal to re-examine and reflect on their findings and engage in a lively discussion of the subsequent work that they have inspired.

Table of Contents:
Chapter 1: Characterising Personality and Individual Differences: Building on Webb (1915) Chapter 2: Trait Names and their Number: Building on Allport and Odbert (1936) Chapter 3: Factor Analysis of Trait Names: Building on Cattell (1943) Chapter 4: The Dimensional Model of Personality and Psychopathology: Building on Eysenck (1944) Chapter 5: Big-5 Factors of Personality: Building on Tupes and Christal (1961) Chapter 6: The challenge to Traits and Situationism: Building on Mischel (1968) Chapter 7: Sensitivity to Punishment and Reward: Building on Gray (1970) Chapter 8: Beyond Reinforcement - Intrinsic and Extrinsic Motivation: Building on Deci (1971) Chapter 9: Similarity of Twin Reared Apart: Building on Thomas J. Bouchard, Jr. et al. (1990) Chapter 10: The Evolution of Personality: Building on Buss (1991) Chapter 11: Personality, Health and Death: Building Friedman et al (1993) Chapter 12: Realistic ratings of personality: Building on Funder (1995) Chapter 13: Personality Traits as State Density Distributions: Building on Fleeson (2001) Chapter 14: The Dark Side of Personality: Building on Paulhus and Williams (2002)

Review :
Revisiting classic studies simultaneously delivers an essential grounding in the history of personality research, as well as critical perspectives from contributors at the forefront of the field. As a comprehensive update on ground-breaking works in the field of personality psychology, the volume is an indispensable addition to the cumulative science of personality psychology and psychology generally. Simon Boag, Macquarie University. This is really a great book and very timely for reconsolidation of studies in Psychology of Individual Differences. I have been teaching the topic for 20 years and witness many changes in the trend of teaching the topic. It is about the time revist what we learn from this area of psychology over almost a century. I congratulate Carr for bringing many specialist together to complete the task. I will most certainly recommend this book in my reading list for more able and curious students which most are.  Anyone with an interest in personality psychology will find this book thoroughly engaging. The discussion of each classic study takes the reader on a journey of history, detail and insight that goes well beyond the typical Introduction to Personality Psychology text.  This textbook is a valuable and interesting addition to the psychologist students’ arsenal. Philip Corr has chosen a selection of 14 studies that are pivotal within the field, either in terms of theory development, or research direction, and provides context for the studies but also an opportunity for critique and reflection on their contribution. This book will allow students, and teachers alike, to critically evaluate some of the classics in personality and individual differences as well as open up other avenues for further reading and research.  Structured around classic papers and significant milestones, the authors provide a novel yet logical account of the history of personality research. Spanning theoretical, methodological, and philosophical debates, the book is an ideal companion for any student or teacher looking to adopt a critical stance towards the field.