Self-theories: Their Role in Motivation, Personality, and Development (Essays in Social Psychology) by Carol S. Dweck
Appropriate for both senior undergraduates and graduate students, as well as professionals in human development and social psychology, this book addresses theories revolving around how people work, what motivates them, and what causes people to act in self-defeating ways. Dweck (psychology, Columbia U.) uses her original research to show how examining self-theories can shed light on basic issues of human motivation, social cognition, personality, the self, mental health, and development. Distributed by Taylor & Francis

Personality: Theory and Research
by Lawrence A. Pervin, Daniel Cervone, Oliver P. John
Personality: Theory and Research, 9th Edition introduces the primary theoretical perspectives that guide contemporary research on personality and individual differences, while also reviewing a wide range of contemporary scientific findings on personality. Throughout the text, emphasis is placed on how theory and research inform one another. Rich case material shows how the theoretical conceptions yield insight into the lives of individual persons. In keeping with the long tradition of this text, the new edition treats each theoretical approach objectively and even-handedly, encouraging readers to weigh the evidence and to formulate their own conclusions. Revisions in the new edition are designed to presents this complex scientific field in an highly engaging, accessible, and readable manner.
In its 7th edition, this psychology text classifies as a standard in introducing personality theory to undergraduate students. The major schools are represented here by explanations of theories advanced by Freud, Rogers, Kelly, and by the contributors to trait dynamic studies, conditioning, social cognitive theory, and cognitive information-processing theory. Pervin (Rutgers U.) and John (U. of California, Berkeley) don't fool around with what already works, concentrating instead on adding, in this revision, case illustrations and directive questions to enhance the core idea of each discussion.

Personality and Work: Reconsidering the Role of Personality in Organizations  -(March 21, 2003)
by Murray Barrick (Editor), Ann Marie Ryan (Editor)
The subject of personality has received increasing attention from industrial/organizational psychologists in both research and practice settings over the past decade. But while there is an overabundance of information related to the narrow area of personality testing and employee selection, there has been no definitive source offering a broader perspective on the overall topic of personality in the workplace. Personality and Work at last provides an in-depth examination of the role of personality in work behavior. An array of expert authors discusses the connection of personality to a wide range of outcomes beyond performance, including counterproductive behaviors, contextual performance, retaliatory behaviors, retention, learning, knowledge creation, and the process of sharing that knowledge. Throughout the book, the authors present theoretical perspectives, introduce new models and frameworks, and integrate and synthesize prior studies in ways that will stimulate future research and practice.

Handbook of Personality Psychology
by Robert Hogan, John Johnson, Stephen Briggs
This handbook on personality psychology covers the relevant subfields, and is written for students and nonpsychologists. Thirty-six chapters explore conceptual and measurement issues in personality, developmental issues, biological and social determinants of personality, dynamic personality processes, personality and the self, and applied psychology. The text also discusses the history of personality psychology, psychobiographies, traits, individuality, family influences on personality development, women's personality development, cross-cultural perspectives on personality, emotions, psychosomatics, and the quest for self-insight.

Child Training and Personality: A Cross-Cultural Study
John W. M. Whiting, Irvin L. Child
This study examines the problem of how culture is integrated through the medium of personality processes and the influence both of culture upon personality and of personality upon culture. The research methods are also detailed.

Handbook of Child Psychology, Socialization, Personality and Social Development (Handbook of Child Psychology)
by Paul Mussen (Editor), E. Mavis Hetherington (Editor)
Explores the psychology of children with updated, revised and expanded coverage of the field. Providing you with the latest research findings and opinions of distinguished authorities, it covers four areas: history, theory and methods; infancy and developmental psychobiology; cognitive development; and socialization, personality and social development. Included are integrative summaries, new perspectives and insights, critical analyses and explications of deficiencies in existing data and theoretical orientations. Going beyond merely a simple encyclopedic review of accumulated knowledge--the author offers a source book that encourages sophisticated thinking about fundamental issues, the formulation of questions and hypotheses and, in the long run, more good research.

Personality in Adulthood, A Five-Factor Theory Perspective (Second Edition: Dec 18, 2002) by Robert R. McCrae, Paul T. Costa Jr.
"...an excellent introduction to a new and significant area of research for advanced undergraduates, graduate students and faculty in psychology, human development, and gerontology."--Choice
"...an impressive work, which can serve as a text for students of personality and life-course development, a source of insight for clinicians, and a challenge for researchers."--Readings
"...addresses students in courses on personality research, life span development, and the psychology of aging. The book is engaging and will be convincing to those who believe that personality is what personality tests measure and to those who believe that personality is what personality tests measure and to those who welcome a ¿clean and mean' psychometric theorectomy to unclutter the complexities of the personality domain....a first-rate, optimistic presentation of the research process that can lead to a medical understanding of a behavioral disorder....Professionals should keep a copy on their shelves and encourage their patients to read it. It is an exemplary contribution to the literature that will mark the decade of the brain."--Contemporary Psychology
"In this writer's opinion it is not likely that one could expect to find a work which represents a demarcation point in the development of a paradigm for a branch of science. McCrae and Costa may have succeeded in doing just that!....McCare and Costa have provided a clear, exciting, new direction. This book is recommended for graduate and advanced undergraduate students in the varied fields of gerontology. Faculty members and researchers should find it a book they will keep on their shelves and in their briefcases."--Experimental Aging Research

Paradigms of Personality Assessment (August 6, 2003)
Jerry S. Wiggins
"This book articulates a vision of the theory and practice of personality assessment that will inform beginners and experts alike. Wiggins' portrayal of different traditions in the field highlights the goals and accomplishments of each approach, and successfully transmits the excitement and fascination with assessment that is characteristic of practitioners. This is not a 'how-to-do-it' text, but a thoughtful, scholarly, and readable consideration of central questions in assessment. Beginning students will find this volume a welcome introduction to personality assessment vivified by a multifaceted study of a single case; more advanced readers will find a coherent vision that integrates theory and practice. There is no comparable treatment of the scientific and practical foundations of personality assessment."--Daniel J. Ozer, PhD, Department of Psychology, University of California, Riverside
"In this long-awaited book, one of the recognized giants of personality assessment has summarized the history and state of the art of five assessment paradigms. Wiggins' approach might be described as 'zealous eclecticism': his broad scholarship is infused with genuine enthusiasm for each paradigm. He offers a theoretical integration in a chapter on agency and communion, and has assembled a cast of experts to illustrate their methods in what will doubtless become a celebrated case history. This is an essential text for anyone who assesses personality. It is suitable for use in graduate-level clinical psychology courses, as well as personality courses for graduates and advanced undergrads."--Robert R. McCrae, PhD
"This book is the mature work of a wise and gifted scholar and writer. It beautifully describes the essence of five approaches to personality assessment. From the opening pages, the reader is engaged--and rewarded--with a sympathetic yet balanced appreciation of each approach. Using his own rich personal experiences and his encyclopedic academic knowledge, Jerry S. Wiggins has provided numerous impressive insights into fascinating ideas and the people who generated them."--Leonard M. Horowitz, PhD, Department of Psychology, Stanford University

Social Structure and Personality Development: The Individual as a Productive Processor of Reality
by Klaus Hurrelmann
Hurrelmann analyzes the concepts of human development that underlie the different sociological and psychological theories of personality development, and proposes his own concept of socialization: the individual as a productive processor of internal and external reality. Annotation copyright Book News, Inc. Portland, Or.

SOCIAL STRUCTURE & PERSON
by Talcott Parsons

The Incomplete Adult: Social Class Constraints on Personality Development (Contributions in Sociology) by Margaret J. Lundberg
The writing is clear and simple and findings are presented for cognitive, affective and social skills....The overall picture of the literature which emerges will prove of extreme value to undergraduates and graduate students. Thanks to the clarity of style, the issues are sharply defined for debate and further research.Choice

Social and Personality Development: Infancy Through Adolescence
William Damon
William Damon wrote this book 20 years ago, when he was at Clark University. It is a comprehensive and well-written account of social and personality development: individuality, the origins of self in infancy, childhood; peer relations and the development of prosocial behavior; adult-child relations; adolescent social relations; and consolidation of adolescent identity. He is a thoroughly academic writer, comprehensive and fluent in various theories of child development as well as the experimental and observational literature that supports or examines the theories and his commentary.
The only drawback is that this is a dated review, published twenty years ago. A lot has happened in terms of infant-parent and child-parent interaction, degradation of the culture (TV, etc.), and children's personality. Nevertheless, this is a good start, and worth the read...

Theories of Personality
by Calvin S. Hall, Gardner Lindzey, John B. Campbell
New edition of the textbook that defined the field of personality theory in 1957. Covers the psychodynamic theories of Freud and Jung, the personality structural theories of Murray and Cattell, the perceived reality perspective of Kelly and Rogers, and the learning-based theories of Skinner, Dollard, Miller and Bandura. Updates the 1978 third edition. Book News, Inc.®, Portland, OR
This is the best book on theories ever published. The fourth edition is theory-oriented and has been reorganized into four parts examing theories of psychodynamics, personality structure, growth and perceived reality, and learning. It also includes new chapters on Eysenck, Bandura, Kelly, and social learning theories.

Handbook of Personality: Theory and Research, Second Edition
by Lawrence A. Pervin (Editor), Oliver P. John (Editor)
New edition of a handbook that takes into consideration the dialectic between continuity and change in personality functioning across situations and time. It contains an introductory chapter on the history of the field, followed by sections on major theoretical perspectives, the interface with other fields, and specific research topics such as temperament, the unconscious, naturalizing the self, personal narratives and the life story, personality and motivation, emotion, personality and health, attribution, creativity and genius, fields of interpersonal behavior, principles for personality assessment, and stress, coping, and self-regulatory processes. Edited by Pervin (psychology, Rutgers U.) and John (psychology, U. of California, Berkeley).