Personality Traits

Now in its third edition, this dynamic textbook analyses the traits fundamental to human personality: what they are, why they matter, their biological and social foundations, how they play out in human life and their consequences for cognition, stress and physical and mental health. The text also considers the applications of personality assessment in clinical, educational and occupational settings, providing the reader with a detailed understanding of the whole field of personality traits. This edition, now with improved student features, includes the latest research from behavioural genetics, neuroscience, social psychology and cognitive science, assesses the impact of new research techniques like brain imagery, and provides additional content on positive aspects of traits and practical uses of personality assessment. This is an essential textbook for students taking courses in personality and individual differences and also provides researchers and practitioners with a coherent, up-to-date survey of this significant area.

About the Author

Gerald Matthews is Professor of Psychology at the University of Cincinnati and has previously held faculty positions at the Universities of Aston and Dundee. He has co-authored several volumes, including Attention and Emotion: a Clinical Perspective (1994) which won the 1998 British Psychological Society Book Award, and has published many articles in the area of personality research.

Ian J. Deary is Professor of Differential Psychology at the University of Edinburgh, and Director of the University of Edinburgh Centre for Cognitive Ageing and Cognitive Epidemiology. He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Psychiatrists, has written extensively on personality and intelligence and won the 2002 British Psychological Society Book Award for Looking Down on Human Intelligence (2000).

Martha C. Whiteman is a Senior Lecturer in Psychology at the University of Edinburgh. Her research and teaching are directed towards interpersonal aspects of personality, health and well-being, and the circumstances which may affect upward-moving or downward-moving health trajectories. She has contributed chapters to personality and health texbooks, while journal publications include articles in The Lancet and Psychosomatic Medicine.