The text aims to illustrate structure, dynamics and operation of the human personality. At first, the authors discuss selected issues pertaining to history (forerunners, birth of the discipline, development of main research currents), theory (scientific theory, epistemology), and methodology (levels and instruments of personality analysis). Then they address the most important approaches to the study of personality: behaviourism, cognitivism, interactionism.

Contents: Introduction - 1. Personality: History, Theories, Methods - 2. The Birth of Psychoanalysis - 3. Psychodymanics of Personality - 4. Personality, the Unconscious and Culture - 5. Subjectivity and Experience - 6. Structure and Dimensions of Personality - 7. Behaviourism and Environmentalism - 8. Cognitivism and Constructivism - 9. Interactionism and Personality-Building - Bibliographical References

Accursio Gennaro teaches Fundamentals of Psychology of Personality in the First Faculty of Psychology of the "La Sapienza" University of Rome.