Recommended Reading: Why Freud Matters?
Author: Dr. Robert Hogan /President of Hogan Assessment Systems Social psychology concerns how people behave in specific situations—for example, as members of a jury panel or eye witnesses to a mugging. Social psychology is very popular, but it doesn’t concern “human nature,” it concerns how people behave in carefully defined contexts. Personality psychology concerns “human nature"—understanding oneself and other people independent of specific situations. Despite its importance, it is vastly less popular than social psychology—for example, there are only about 400 personality psychologists in the United States. Even worse, modern personality psychology largely focuses on aspects of the so-called Big Five Theory. According to this respected academic model, what we know about ourselves and other people can be described as follows: 1. Some people are shy and reserved; others are outgoing and talkative 2. Some people are nervous and guilt prone, others are confident and resili