PSYCHOLOGY OF PERSONALITY

by Ross Stagner. McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1948. pp.xiii if 485, $5.00.

To keep up with the rapid advances in psychological research, particularly in the fields of personality and social psychology, alert authors find it advisable to revise their texts at least once in a decade. The energetic be- haviorism which dominated the 1937 edition of this book has yielded to the more sophisti- cated approach of the perceptual organization of inner experience with its effects upon mo- tivation. The revision is skillful with no loss of freshness, scholarly but not abstruse, intent upon the problems of individual without slighting the complexities of the social order.

The book is divided into four sections: (1) the methods used in the investigation of per- sonality with a brief discission of Rorschach ink-blot test and other projective techniques, (2) a description of personality from early patterns of feeling to the mature development of the self and character, (3) the motivation of personality according to the theories of Freud, Lewin and Allport, and (4) the de- terminants of personality in terms o£ biology but more particularly in relation to the family, education, the economic system and the democratic process. Emphasis is given to the development of the normal personalit) supported by individual case material. To the credit of the author be it said that he does not sidestep such thorny problems as the idea of the self, character and social values.

A robust bibliography of more than 600 titles is placed at the end of the book so that the text is not cluttered with footnotes. The use of vitalized diagrams and sharp illustra- tive material relieves the need for tables and graphs which are held to an agreeable mini- mum. The handling of the topics is well bal- anced, orderly and lucid. As a standard text already enjoying wide use for courses in per- sonality, the book will also be rewarding to alumni who wish to keep abreast of the ad- vances in the field.