Personality: A User's Guide

A fun and accessible user's guide to your personality, assessing all the evidence and competing theories.

Format: Paperback / softback
Length: 384 pages
Publication date: 15 February 2024
Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

The best introduction to personality psychology I have ever read is "Personality: A User's Guide" by Robert Hogan, founder and president of Hogan Assessment Systems.

We are each born with a particular genetic makeup and traits that are further shaped by our individual environments and life experiences, creating a personality unique to us. However, at no point are we given a manual for how to use that personality in our relationships or at work, for how to make sense of the facets that create our sense of self, or for how to troubleshoot our personality if there are things we are unhappy with.

"Personality: A User's Guide" is that missing manual. An authoritative and comprehensive guide to personality psychology, this book outlines the different building blocks of our personality, presents the many theories and models that have been argued over the years, and helps you identify where you stand on the spectrum of key traits that define us.

Using this knowledge about yourself, the book also suggests ways you can better empathize with those around you who may have very different approaches to the world, and how we can all leverage our different strengths. The authors also consider the constantly developing nature of the self, and ways we can turn that to our advantage and make changes for greater success and wellbeing.

Finally, the book looks at some specific questions: Can our pets be said to have their own personalities? What happens when the "dark triad" of negative traits are dominant? And is there a future in store where we can say that an AI has a genuine personality?

Weight: 472g
Dimension: 152 x 234 x 31 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781472147936