The Psychology of Individual Differences

This collection provides a comprehensive up-to-date synthesis of some of the most significant publications in the psychology of individual differences field over the past two decades. It contains benchmark readings, including highly cited empirical articles, review articles with an emphasis on critical review articles as well some book chapters that have had great impact in terms of presenting research findings and influencing the key debates in the field. There is a particular emphasis on recent key publications to complement older classic works, an overall integration of this expansive field and a thoroughly international focus.

In addition to the 80 key original publications included in the collection, Volume One opens with an introductory editorial essay by the Editors setting out the rationale behind the selections, and providing ...

Editors' Introduction: Contemporary Perspectives on the Psychology of Individual Differences

GregoryJ.Boyle & DonaldH.Saklofske

Human beings have tended to describe their uniqueness in two ways. They can be distinguished from all other life forms on this planet by the very fact that they are the most intellectually developed species in the animal kingdom. However, this uniformity within human kind is further characterised by a vast range of individual differences. It is this individual uniqueness that has held the greatest fascination of ourselves by ourselves as evidenced throughout history. Individual differences in personality and motivation were variously attributed to the ‘will of the gods’ or Galen's four bodily humours, and explanations for variability in human abilities and behaviours were forthcoming from the religions and social philosophies of the ...

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