Personality: Determinants, Dynamics, and Potentials

by Gian Vittorio Caprara , Daniel Cervone

• ISBN13: 9780521583107
• ISBN10: 0521583101
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2000-08-15
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Personality: Determinants, Dynamics and Potentials is a comprehensive survey of contemporary research and theory in personality psychology. The book provides balanced coverage of biological, cognitive, affective, social, and interpersonal determinants of personality functioning and individual differences. The authors organize these factors within an overarching theoretical framework that highlights the dynamic transactions between individuals and the sociocultural environment, and the human capacities for self-reflection and self-regulation. The book's broad, integrative approach to the study of personality reveals how advances throughout the psychological sciences illuminate the classic questions of personality psychology. The volume is designed as a textbook for advanced-level courses and as a reference for professionals in psychology and related disciplines. The book meets personality psychology's need for an integrative analysis of the field that reviews recent advances, places them in their historical context, and identifies particularly promising avenues for the discipline's future development.

Table of Contents

Preface	xv
PART ONE. INTRODUCTION TO PERSONALITY PSYCHOLOGY	1	(246)
Prologue: Personality Psychology as an Integrative Discipline	2	(6)
Determinants, Dynamics, and Potentials	3	(1)
Determinants and Dynamics	3	(1)
Potentials	4	(2)
Overview of the Volume	6	(2)
The Domain of Personality Psychology	8	(16)
Common Themes	9	(1)
Definitions, Aims, and Assumptions	10	(2)
Theories and Explanations	12	(10)
Distinguishing Among Theoretical Approaches	13	(1)
What Is a Personality Theory to Do?	14	(1)
Dispositions as Phenotypes and Genotypes	15	(3)
Related Metatheoretical Issues	18	(4)
Methodological Issues	22	(1)
Summing Up	23	(1)
Origins, History, and Progress	24	(38)
The Origins of Personality Psychology Within the History of Ideas	25	(9)
Problems and Perspectives in the History of Psychology	25	(1)
The Challenge of Cultural Diversity	26	(3)
The Construction of Histories	29	(1)
The Matrices of Western Thought	30	(1)
Conceptions of the Person in Ancient Greece	30	(1)
Roman Thought	31	(1)
The Birth of the Sciences	32	(2)
Social Science and Social Change	34	(1)
The Founding of Personality Psychology	34	(4)
Structuralism and Functionalism	35	(1)
Paradigms	36	(1)
Research Traditions	36	(1)
Continuities and Discontinuities in the Progress of the Discipline	37	(1)
The Progress of Personality Psychology	38	(12)
Freedom, Resources, and Critical Mass	38	(2)
Developments in the United States	40	(2)
A Period of Transition	42	(3)
Substantive Challenges, Rhetoric, and Debate in the Advancement of Knowledge	45	(3)
Facing the Present and Looking to the Future	48	(2)
The Case of Psychoanalysis	50	(6)
Freud's Metapsychology	51	(2)
Secessions and New Directions of Research	53	(1)
Is There Still a Place for Psychoanalysis in Personality Psychology?	54	(2)
Forecasting the Future	56	(1)
Summing Up	57	(3)
PART TWO. DESCRIPTION AND EXPLANATION
Introduction: Description and Explanation	60	(2)
Individual Differences: Traits, Temperament, and Intelligence	62	(37)
Dispositions: Debate and Unresolved Issues	63	(2)
On the Varieties of Trait Theory	65	(1)
Describing Individual Differences: Lexical Approaches, Questionnaire Approaches, and the Five-Factor Model	66	(15)
Five Basic Factors	68	(1)
Lexical Studies	68	(1)
The Questionnaire Tradition	69	(1)
Comprehensive Individual-Difference Structures	70	(2)
Generalizability of the Five-Factor Structure Across Languages and Cultures	72	(3)
Five-Factor Instruments	75	(1)
Merits and Limits of the Five-Factor Model	76	(5)
Factor Analysis in the Study of Personality	81	(3)
The Technique	81	(2)
Interpreting the Method	83	(1)
Temperament and Personality	84	(6)
Early 20th Century Contributions	84	(1)
Defining Temperament	84	(1)
Dimensions of Temperament	85	(2)
Context and Categories	87	(2)
General Conclusions	89	(1)
The Intelligences: General, Practical, Social, and Emotional	90	(7)
Components and Expressions of Intelligence	91	(4)
Social Intelligence, Emotional Intelligence, and Wisdom	95	(2)
Summing Up	97	(2)
Personality Coherence and Individual Uniqueness: Interactionism and Social-Cognitive Systems	99	(28)
Interactionism	100	(5)
Theoretical Models and Research Strategies	100	(3)
Beyond Separate Person and Situation Factors	103	(2)
Situations	105	(3)
A Functional Analysis of Situations	105	(1)
A Lexical Analysis of Situations	106	(1)
Mental Representations of Social Episodes	106	(1)
Situation Cognition and Personality Coherence	107	(1)
Universal Forms?	107	(1)
Social-Cognitive Theories of Personality Structure, Process, and Functioning	108	(6)
Brief History	108	(1)
Defining Features of Social-Cognitive Theory	109	(2)
Bandura's Social Cognitive Theory	111	(3)
Alternative Strategies of Explanation	114	(7)
Trait and Dispositional Constructs as Causes	114	(1)
Social-Cognitive and Affective Systems as Causes	115	(1)
Top-Down and Bottom-Up Strategies of Explanation	116	(2)
A Bottom-Up, Social-Cognitive Analysis of Cross-Situational Coherence	118	(3)
Summing Up	121	(3)
PART THREE. THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY
Introduction: The Development of Personality	124	(3)
Personality Development Across the Course of Life	127	(29)
Assumptions in the Study of Development	128	(7)
Mechanistic Perspectives	128	(2)
Organismic Perspectives	130	(1)
Developmental Contextualism	131	(1)
Superordinate Assumptions	132	(2)
Contemporary Views of Development	134	(1)
The Domain of Developmental Inquiry	135	(1)
Ages and Stages	136	(5)
Developmental Tasks and the Seasons of the Life Cycle	137	(2)
Stages of Ego Development	139	(2)
The Development of the Self System	141	(3)
Mental Representations of Personal Attributes	142	(1)
Feelings of Self-Worth	142	(1)
Self-Efficacy Beliefs	142	(1)
Metacognitive Knowledge of Self-Control Strategies	143	(1)
Standards for Self-Evaluation	144	(1)
Stability, Continuity, and Change	144	(7)
Stability	145	(2)
Continuity	147	(2)
Developmental Continuities and Discontinuities in their Sociohistorical Context	149	(2)
Optimal Development through Selection and Compensation	151	(1)
Psychosocial Transitions, Personal Determinants of Life Trajectories	152	(1)
Psychosocial Transitions and Personal Agency	153	(2)
Summing Up	155	(1)
Genetics, Brain Systems, and Personality	156	(31)
The Role of Genetics in Personality Development	157	(13)
The Long Road from Genes to Behavior	157	(1)
Strong and Weak Biologism	158	(1)
Definitional Issues in the Study of Genetics and Personality	159	(2)
Behavior Genetic Analyses of Individual Differences	161	(5)
Assessing the Traditional Behavioral-Genetic Paradigm	166	(1)
Moving the Behavior-Genetic Paradigm Forward	167	(3)
Brain Systems at the Basis of Personality Development and Functioning	170	(4)
Conceptualizations of Brain and Personality	170	(1)
Brain Structures and Processes	171	(2)
Brain Functions	173	(1)
Brain Systems and Personality Functioning	174	(5)
The Seminal Contributions of Pavlov	174	(1)
Contemporary Models of Brain Systems and Individual Differences	174	(5)
Sex Differences	179	(8)
Sex Differentiation and Development	180	(3)
Evolutionary Psychology and Sex Differences	183	(3)
Summing Up	186	(1)
Interpersonal Relations	187	(21)
Interpersonal Relations: Theoretical Frameworks	188	(1)
Attachment	189	(9)
Attachment Styles	190	(1)
Temperament of the Child and Sensitivity of the Mother	191	(1)
Cultural Differences and Social Networks	192	(1)
Stability and Pervasiveness Across Generations	192	(1)
Interpersonal Orientations	193	(5)
Communication	198	(4)
Peer Relations and Friendships	202	(6)
Peer Relations in Younger and Older Childhood	202	(1)
Early Friendships and Prosocial Capabilities and Later Psychosocial Outcomes	203	(1)
Peer Relations and the Development of Self-Concept	204	(1)
Friendships and Maladjustment	204	(1)
Group Influences	205	(1)
Peers, Parents, and Adolescent ``Storm and Stress''	205	(2)
Summing Up	207	(1)
Social Contexts and Social Constructions: Work, Education, Family, Gender, and Values	208	(39)
Work	210	(4)
Marxist Analysis	210	(1)
Social Status, Action, and the Development of Capacities	211	(3)
Education	214	(3)
Social and Cognitive Processes in Educational Attainment	215	(2)
Rectifying Educational Inequalities?	217	(1)
Family	217	(11)
The Contemporary Western Family	217	(2)
The Family System	219	(4)
The Life Cycle of the Family	223	(4)
Facing Adversities and Change	227	(1)
The Social Development of Gender	228	(2)
Sex and Gender	228	(1)
History and Change	229	(1)
Gender Differences in Cognitive Abilities, Social Behavior, and Traits	230	(6)
Gender Differences in Aggression	231	(1)
Gender and Personality Traits	232	(1)
Gender Differences in Developmental Continuities, Self-Construals, and Vulnerabilities	233	(3)
Gender Development: Theories and Research Paradigms	236	(6)
Psychoanalytic, Social Learning, and Early Cognitive Approaches	236	(2)
The Centrality of Gender: Masculinity, Femininity, and Androgeny	238	(2)
Contemporary Frameworks: Evolutionary Psychology, Sex Role Theory, and Social Cognitive Theory	240	(2)
Social Values and the Symbolic Environment	242	(5)
The Structure of Values	243	(1)
The Media and the Social Transmission of Values	244	(1)
Social Change and Materialistic and Postmaterialistic Values	245	(1)
Summing Up	246	(1)
PART FOUR. THE DYNAMICS OF PERSONALITY	247	(138)
Introduction to Part IV	248	(2)
Knowledge Structures and Interpretive Processes	250	(34)
General Considerations	251	(2)
Recurring Themes	252	(1)
The Relation between Personality and Social Psychology	253	(1)
Historical Background	253	(1)
The Contemporary Field: Alternative Models of Knowledge Representation	254	(2)
Knowledge Activation: Temporary and Chronic Sources of Accessibility	256	(4)
Temporary Sources of Construct Accessibility	256	(1)
Chronically Accessible Constructs	256	(2)
Spontaneous Trait Inference	258	(2)
Individual Differences in the Associations Among Concepts	260	(1)
Schematic Knowledge Structures and Self-Schemas	260	(7)
Schemas: Three Features	262	(1)
Self-Schemas	262	(4)
Relational Schemas	266	(1)
Knowledge Structures, Personal Standards, and Emotional Experience	267	(5)
Internalized Standards	267	(1)
Standards, Discrepancies, and Vulnerability to Distinct Emotional States	267	(5)
Knowledge, Encoding, and Individual Differences in Aggressive Behavior	272	(1)
Coherent Systems of Self-Knowledge	273	(3)
Multiple Self-Aspects and Self-Complexity	274	(1)
Idiographic Representations of Self-Knowledge and Social Knowledge	275	(1)
Beyond Discrete Attributes: Narrative and Dialogue	276	(5)
Narrative	276	(4)
Internal Dialogue	280	(1)
The Narrative Turn: Expansion of or Challenge to Psychology's Analysis of Knowledge and Meaning?	281	(1)
Summing Up	282	(2)
Affective Experience: Emotions and Mood	284	(27)
Historical and Contemporary Analyses of Emotional Experience	286	(1)
The Varieties of Affective Experience	287	(3)
Moods Versus Emotions	287	(1)
The Structure of the Emotion Domain	287	(3)
The Components and Functions of Emotional Experience	290	(20)
Cognitive Appraisal and Emotional Experience	290	(5)
Physiological Substrates of Emotional Experience	295	(4)
The Behavioral Expression of Emotional States	299	(1)
Subjective Emotional Experience	300	(7)
Coherence Among the Components of Emotional Response	307	(3)
Summing Up	310	(1)
Unconscious Processes and Conscious Experience	311	(27)
The Elusive Unconscious and Self-Evident Consciousness -- or Vice Versa?	312	(3)
Unconscious Processes	312	(1)
Conscious Experience	313	(1)
Paradigm Shifts in Psychology's Understanding of Conscious and Unconscious Processes	314	(1)
Differentiating Among Conscious and Unconscious Phenomena	315	(3)
Defensive Processing	318	(10)
Repression and Repressive Coping Style	318	(4)
Development of Defense Mechanisms	322	(1)
Social-Cognitive Bases of Defense: Transference and Projection	323	(2)
Inhibition, Expression, and Health	325	(2)
Defensive Processing: Summary	327	(1)
Implicit Cognition	328	(2)
The Reality and Variety of Implicit Cognition	328	(1)
Implicit Individual-Difference Measures	329	(1)
Conscious Processes	330	(1)
Conscious Processes and Personality Functioning	331	(6)
Individual Differences: Public and Private Self-Consciousness	331	(1)
Rumination and Coping	332	(1)
States of Flow and the Experience Sampling Method	333	(2)
The Control of Consciousness	335	(1)
Affective States and Conscious Thought	336	(1)
Summing Up	337	(1)
Motivation and Self-Regulation	338	(47)
Motivation, Cognition, and the Self-Regulatory System	339	(7)
Standards and Affective Self-Evaluation	340	(1)
Self-Efficacy Beliefs and Perceived Control	341	(1)
Goals and the Self-Regulatory System	342	(2)
Temporal and Cross-Situational Coherence in the Self-System	344	(1)
Personal Agency	345	(1)
Historical and Contemporary Theoretical Frameworks	346	(10)
Instinct, Drive, Need, and Motive Theories	346	(5)
Contemporary Cognitive Frameworks	351	(5)
Control Beliefs and Perceptions of Self-Efficacy	356	(9)
Distinguishing Among Control Beliefs	356	(3)
Perceived Self-Efficacy	359	(2)
Behavioral, Cognitive, and Affective Consequences of Efficacy Beliefs	361	(4)
Boosting Efficacy Beliefs	365	(1)
Goals and Self-Motivation	365	(8)
Variations Among Goals and Goal Systems	366	(1)
Task Goals and Self-Regulatory Processes	366	(1)
Moderators of Goal-Setting Effects: Feedback and Task Complexity	367	(1)
Self-Referent Cognition and Affect as Mediators of Goal-Setting Effects	368	(1)
Nonconscious Goal Mechanisms	369	(2)
Qualitative Variations in Goals and Personal Standards	371	(2)
Coherence in Goal Systems	373	(4)
Implicit Theories	374	(1)
Middle-Level Goal Units	374	(3)
A Methodological Caveat: Do People Know What They're Doing?	377	(1)
Distraction and the Challenge of Carrying Out Intentions	377	(2)
Action and State Orientations	378	(1)
Initiating Goal-Directed Action	379	(1)
Controlling Impulses	379	(3)
Ego Dimensions	379	(1)
Mischel's Delay of Gratification Paradigm	380	(2)
Summing Up	382	(3)
PART FIVE. EPILOGUE	385	(8)
Looking to the Future: Is Personality Psychology in Good Health?	386	(7)
Reasons for Optimism?	386	(3)
Toward a Common Paradigm?	389	(4)
References	393	(64)
Author Index	457	(18)
Subject Index	475