Personality Theories. Development, Growth, and Diversity . - Third Edition - Review - book review

Adolescence, Summer, 2000

ALLEN, Bem P. Personality Theories. Development, Growth, and Diversity (Third Edition). Boston: Allyn and Bacon, 2000. 5l8pp. $79.00 (h).

This revised and updated text presents theorists' lives as well as their contributions to the field of personality, coupled with a pedagogical program. The Running Comparison sections employ a tabular format to stack the beliefs of the theorists against one another. In addition, each chapter begins with a series of leading questions that provide context before the student begins reading. Summary Points and Essay/Critical Thinking Questions wrap up each chapter, serving as discussion starters. Diversity issues are also highlighted as part of Allen's humanistic approach. Chapters include: the psychoanalytic legacy--Sigmund Freud; personality's ancestral foundation--Carl Jung; overcoming inferiority and striving for superiority--Alfred Adler; moving toward, away from, and against others--Karen Horney; personality from the interpersonal perspective--Harry Stack Sullivan; the seasons of our lives--Erick Erikson; the sociopsychological approach to personality--Erich Fromm; every person is to be prized--Carl Rogers; becoming all that one can be--Abraham Maslow; marching to a different drummer--George Kelly; the social-cognitive approach to personality--Walter Mischel and Julian Rotter; thinking ahead and learning mastery of one's circumstances--Albert Bandura; it's all a matter of consequences--B. F. Skinner; human needs and environmental press--Henry A. Murray; the trait approach to personality--Raymond Cattell and Hans Eysenck; and personality development and prejudice--Gordon Allport.