If you sometimes wonder whether there is a better way to teach personality psychology, you may want to consider the new alternative represented by Personality Psychology: A Systems Approach.

Personality psychology today is most commonly taught according to the traditional theoretical perspectives of the field such as the psychodynamic, trait, and social-cognitive approaches. The theories approach is an educationally viable, historically proven approach.

Many professors, however, have been wondering if the approach is more unwieldy than necessary, and whether there may be better ways to organize and represent the current and future field.

Fortunately, there exists another framework for the field that is at least equally viable in the classroom. In general terms, this approach was first envisioned by the founder of psychology, Wilhelm Wundt. The approach was further developed by Robert Sears, Lawrence Pervin, and others.

This approach has now been formalized and more fully conceptualized in a series of peer-reviewed articles on the Systems Framework for Personality Psychology. Simply put, this framework states that personality is better studied according to (a) an identification of the personality system, (b) its parts, (c) its organization, and (d) its development.

The textbook: Personality Psychology: A Systems Approach is a new text, fully based on the newer more contemporary approach: the systems framework for personality psychology. This textbook is a standard-length text of 12 chapters –full of lively writing that will hold students’ attention.

Personality Psychology has been developed in cooperation with Allyn & Bacon, and has benefited from multiple external reviews, and the guidance of their skilled editorial staff. The book is now in its testing phase and available to interested instructors seeking a new and contemporary approach.

Also Available:
• Reading the Scientific Literature in Personality Psychology by John D. Mayer (Editor), ISBN: 0-536-849-889
• Student Activity Workbook [for] Personality Psychology: A Systems Approach by Mark A. Brackett with contributions by Zorana Ivcevic and Elyse Schneiderman, ISBN: 0-536-848-467