ABSTRACT

Originally published in 1964, the aim of this book was to analyse the psychological processes involved in understanding personality, and to consider how the psychologist could help in making more accurate assessments.

Professor Vernon discusses in detail the scientific status of psychoanalytic and other ‘depth’ theories of motivation, the value of different types of psychotherapeutic treatment and counselling, the influence of upbringing on the development of personality, and the effectiveness of projective techniques. He also examines the reasons for the highly variable results obtained with personality tests and questionnaires.

As well as providing a balanced review of theories of personality and of various types of test, this work made a fresh contribution to developing improved techniques of assessment.

chapter 1|21 pages

Introduction and General Summary

part I|49 pages

Naïve Interpretations of Personality

chapter 2|21 pages

Perceptions and Misperceptions of People

chapter 3|9 pages

Theoretical Considerations

part II|103 pages

The Clinical Psychologist's Understanding of Personality

part III|71 pages

Objective Approaches to Personality

chapter 11|22 pages

Measurement of Traits and Factors

chapter 12|12 pages

Test-Taking Attitudes and Spurious Factors

chapter 14|12 pages

The Personality System

part IV|42 pages

Practicable Methods of Assessment

chapter 15|15 pages

Tests and Observations of Behaviour

chapter 16|13 pages

Self-Report Tests

chapter 17|12 pages

The Study of Personal Concepts