Preface to Third Edition xiii

Preface to Second Edition xiv

Preface to First Edition xv

Acknowledgments xvii

About the Author xviii

Chapter 1 Introducing Individual Differences – From Everyday to Psychological Questions 1

Chapter 2 Personality, Part I 23

Chapter 3 Personality, Part II – Validating Personality Traits 61

Chapter 4 Psychopathology 109

Chapter 5 Intelligence, Part I 145

Chapter 6 Intelligence, Part II – Validating Intelligence and Correlates of IQ (Causes and Consequences) 175

Chapter 7 Behavioral Genetics 205

Chapter 8 Beyond IQ – Theories of Hot Intelligence 239

Chapter 9 Mood and Motivation 269

Chapter 10 Creativity 303

Chapter 11 Leadership 337

Chapter 12 Vocational Interests 369

Glossary 391

References 399

Index 447

The study of individual differences is part of a well-established tradition in psychology that dates back more than a century. Individual differences researchers attempt to describe and explain how and why people differ, and what impact or consequences these differences have. Whereas most areas of psychology assume that every person is the same and hence attempt to explain the universal aspects of human behaviour, individual difference theories are concerned with differences between people, or what makes everyone unique.

Personality and Individual Differences is a state-of-the-art undergraduate textbook that covers the salient and recent literature on personality, intellectual ability, motivation and other individual differences such as creativity, emotional intelligence, leadership and vocational interests.

This third edition has been completely revised to include the most up-to-date, cutting-edge data and analysis. As well as introducing all topics related to individual differences, this book examines and discusses many important underlying issues, such as the psychodynamic approach to latent variables, validity, reliability and correlations between constructs.

An essential textbook for first-time as well as more advanced students of the discipline, Personality and Individual Differences provides grounding in all major aspects of differential psychology.

A companion website containing additional teaching and learning resources can be found at www.wiley.com/college/chamorro-premuzic.

"Personality and Individual Differences is my preferred textbook in the field, because it is comprehensive, up-to-date and versatile. All my students, ranging from undergraduates to postgraduates, have found this book useful and stimulating for an introduction to Individual Differences research.’’—Sophie von Stumm, Lecturer, Goldsmiths University of London, UK 

"This textbook by Dr Chamorro-Premuzic is an excellent introduction to the myriad aspects of personality research and application.  In addition, it provides a unique perspective that relates psychological theory to the use of individual-differences assessments in real-world situations. It is lively, entertaining, and highly informative."—Phillip L. Ackerman, Professor of Psychology, Georgia Institute of Technology, USA 

‘’Selecting adjectives from a checklist is one way to assess key characteristics of personality.  My top adjectives for Personality and Individual Differences include authoritative, wise, comprehensive, up to date, succinct, well organized, exciting, enjoyable, accessible, and well produced.  You are in safe hands with one of the top researchers in the field.’’—Robert Plomin, MRC Research Professor and Deputy Director, King's College London, UK