ABSTRACT
Personality psychology concerns the nature of human nature. It answers three general questions: (a) How and in what ways are we all alike; (b) how and in what ways are we all different; and (c) why do we (as individuals) do what we do? Why should anyone be interested in personality psychology? There are three reasons. The first is pragmatic: Because other people are the most consequential, helpful, and dangerous parts of the environment in which we live, it seems sensible to have some understanding of these (often) dark forces. Second, without a theory of some sort, it is difficult to make sense out of the world. All of us have more or less well articulated theories of human nature, but these theories are almost surely in need of some maintenance and even repair. We need to understand personality to make sense of the personal, business, and political worlds in which we live. Third, true change depends on understanding how the world works. If we want to improve our lives, relationships, careers, business organizations, or societies, we need as accurate a view of human nature as we can devise.
