Individual Differences and Personality - Softcover

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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. The book begins with a description of the study of personality, 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.) that are predicted by personality characteristics. The book additionally examines important individual differences such as mental abilities, religious beliefs, political attitudes, and sexuality.

Changes to the fourth edition include updates to all chapters and new content in the measurement chapter on understanding correlations and reliability, results from large sample size studies in the developmental change and stability of personality chapter, and the effect of drugs mimicking dopamine activity on impulse control in the biological basis of personality chapter. The genetics chapter is heavily revised to cover recent meta analyses and large scale studies, with clarifications re assortative mating and social homogamy. The discussion of sex differences in personality is expanded on cross-cultural variation in personality sex differences. Personality and Life Outcomes has 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 Conscientiousness and IQ.