fei75766_fm_i-xx.indd xvi  02/19/20 08:58 AMxviWhat makes people behave astheydo?Arepeople ordinarily aware ofwhat theyaredoing, oraretheir
behaviors theresult ofhidden, unconscious motives? Aresome people naturally good andothers basically 
evil?Ordoallpeople havepotential tobeeither good orevil?Ishuman conduct largely aproduct of
nature, orisitshaped mostly byenvironmental influences? Canpeople freely choose tomold theirperson -
ality, oraretheirlivesdetermined byforces beyond theircontrol? Arepeople bestdescribed bytheir
similarities, orisuniqueness thedominant characteristic ofhumans? What causes some people todevelop 
disordered personalities whereas others seem togrow toward psychological health?
These questions havebeen asked anddebated byphilosophers, scholars, andreligious thinkers forsev-
eralthousand years; butmost ofthese discussions werebased onpersonal opinions thatwerecolored bypoliti -
cal,economic, religious, andsocial considerations. Then, neartheendofthe19thcentury, some progress was
made inhumanity’s ability toorganize, explain, andpredict itsownactions. Theemergence ofpsychology as
thescientific study ofhuman behavior marked thebeginning ofamore systematic approach tothestudy of
human personality.
Early personality theorists, suchasSigmund Freud, Alfred Adler, andCarlJung, relied mostly onclini-
calobservations toconstruct models ofhuman behavior. Although theirdataweremore systematic andreli-
ablethanthose ofearlier observers, these theorists continued torelyontheirownindividualized wayof
looking atthings, andthustheyarrived atdifferent conceptions ofthenature ofhumanity.
Later personality theorists tended tousemore empirical studies tolearn about human behavior. These the-
orists developed tentative models, tested hypotheses, andthenreformulated theirmodels. Inother words, they
applied thetoolsofscientific inquiry andscientific theory totheareaofhuman personality. Science, ofcourse, is
notdivorced fromspeculation, imagination, andcreativity, allofwhich areneeded toformulate theories. Each of
thepersonality theorists discussed inthisbook hasevolved atheory based bothonempirical observations andon
imaginative speculation. Moreover, eachtheory isareflection ofthepersonality ofitscreator.
Thus, thedifferent theories discussed inthese pages areareflection oftheunique cultural background, 
family experiences, andprofessional training oftheiroriginators. Theusefulness ofeachtheory, however, is
notonlyevaluated onthepersonality ofitsauthor butalsoonitsability to(1)generate research, (2)offer 
itself tofalsification, (3)integrate existing empirical knowledge, and(4)suggest practical answers toevery -
dayproblems. Therefore, weevaluate eachofthetheories discussed inthisbook onthebasis ofthese four
criteria aswellason(5)itsinternal consistency and(6)itssimplicity. Inaddition, some personality theories 
havefertilized other fields, suchassociology, education, psychotherapy, advertising, management, mythology, 
counseling, art,literature, andreligion.
The Tenth Edition
Thetenth edition ofTheories of Personality continues toemphasize thestrong andunique features ofearlier 
editions, namely theoverviews nearthebeginning ofeachchapter, alively writing style, thethought- 
provoking concepts ofhumanity asseenbyeachtheorist, andthestructured evaluations ofeachtheory. 
Annotated suggested readings arenowavailable online with Connect®,McGraw-Hill Education’s integrated 
assignment andassessment platform. Asweretheprevious editions, thetenth edition isbased onoriginal 
sources andthemost recent formulation ofeachtheory. Early concepts andmodels areincluded onlyif
theyretained theirimportance inthelatertheory oriftheyprovided vitalgroundwork for understanding 
thefinaltheory.
Forselect chapters, wehavedeveloped aWeb-enhanced feature titled Beyond Biography, which is
available through Connect.PrefaceFinal PDF to printer