City Research Online

Abstract

This Special Issue poses a pertinent question: Is a consensual paradigm needed, possible, or even desirable, in personality psychology? One seems necessary to unify the disparate perspectives that characterise the field, as well as to make a major contribution to the broader unification of psychology in which individual differences loom large. This discussion is presented in relation to standard models in mature science where scientific progress seems more assured. Additionally, such a consensual paradigm would contribute positively to a (at least, partial) resolution of the reproduction and replication problems in psychology and the social sciences more widely - by taking seriously the influences of personality factors and processes that can play havoc with the interpretation of main effects and how to account for error terms. In this Special Issue, 14 papers span a wide range of perspectives: Descriptive/taxonomic models, meta-theories, cognitive and motivation processes, measurement and statistics, environmental factors, and more abstract notions of human nature and the mind. Although there may be scant evidence of a consensus regarding the preferred approach, it seems clear enough that synthesis is now needed. Progress along this path should make a major contribution to the construction of a viable consensual paradigm for personality.

Publication Type:	Article
Additional Information:	© 2019 Elsevier. This manuscript version is made available under the CC-BY-NC-ND 4.0 license http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/
Publisher Keywords:	Personality, Paradigm, Normal science, Unification, Replication
Subjects:	B Philosophy. Psychology. Religion > BF Psychology
Departments:	School of Health & Psychological Sciences > Psychology
SWORD Depositor:	Symplectic Administrator

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