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The General Factor of Personality

  • 1st Edition - March 16, 2017
  • Latest edition
  • Author: Janek Musek
  • Language: English

The General Factor of Personality improves our understanding of the personality structure and the relations between major personality dimensions, as well as major dimension… Read more

Description

The General Factor of Personality improves our understanding of the personality structure and the relations between major personality dimensions, as well as major dimensions of the entire non-cognitive sphere of psychological variables. The results of the empirical testing and theoretical evaluations in this book contribute to the more comprehensive and precise theoretical framework of the General Factor of Personality (GFP) and that of the entire personality structure.

Additionally, the book answers some unresolved questions concerning the nature of the GFP, including whether it is based more on correlations in real behavior or on other less substantial factors between lower-order dimensions of personality. This book is crucially important not only for theoretical reasons, but also for the tremendous practical and applied value of the assumed general dimension of personality. As a common denominator of all the most important fields of personality beyond cognition (Big Five, well-being, coping, emotionality, motivation, self-concept, self-esteem, control, wisdom and others), the GFP represents an extremely strong single predictor of the quality of life, mental health and well-being, career, academic success, and the quality of family and interpersonal relations.

Key features

  • Reviews the theoretical and methodological work on the General Factor of Personality (GFP)
  • Presents major research results in the field of GFP and the dimensional structure of personality
  • Provides a balanced and objective approach to the topic of GFP, addressing criticisms and controversies
  • Considers the practical and applied aspects of this research
  • Draws conclusions on the bioevolutionary model of GFP to give a more thorough understanding of biological bases of human personality

Readership

Researchers and students in social, personality, and cognitive psychology

Table of contents

Section A. Breaking With Dogma

Chapter 1. The Rise of the GFP

  • General Factor of Personality—A New Concept in Psychology
  • The Historical Predecessors
  • From the Big Five to the Biggest One
  • The Initial Study of GFP
  • GFP From Meta-analytic Studies

Chapter 2. New Look at the Structure of Personality

  • Structural Paradigms in the Personality Research
  • Examples of Higher-Order Levels of Hierarchy

Chapter 3. GFP in the Cross-Cultural Context

  • Cultural Stability of Personality
  • GFP Across Cultures
  • Interpreting GFP in the New Light

Chapter 4. The Basic Interpretations and Critical Aspects of the GFP

  • The Most Frequent Criticisms of the General Factor of Personality
  • The Nature of the GFP
  • The Interpretations of the GFP: Possible Conclusions

Section B. The Nature and Power of the GFP

Chapter 5. The Psychological Correlates of General Factor of Personality

  • The Closest Relatives of General Factor of Personality
  • The Connections With Other Psychological Domains
  • GFP as Predictor

Chapter 6. Biological Aspects of General Factor of Personality

  • Evolutionary Basis of the General Factor of Personality
  • Evolutionary Strategies and Personality
  • Differential K Theory
  • Life History Model
  • Genetics
  • GFP in the Light of Neuroscience
  • Conclusions

Chapter 7. The Overall Strength of the GFP

  • GFP Across 21 Datasets
  • Method
  • Results
  • GFP as a Part of the Best Structural Solutions
  • Comparison of Six Structural Models
  • Conclusions

Section C. General Dimensions of Personality and Cognition

Chapter 8. Dimensional Structure of Personality and Beyond

  • Two Broad Domains of Personality
  • Super-Dominant General Factor in Personality and Beyond: A Study on 63 Variables

Chapter 9. Cognitive Abilities and Personality: Two Comprehensive General Factors

  • Two Faces of a Human Person
  • Personality and Intelligence
  • Two General Dimensions: g-Factor and Super-g
  • Results and Discussion
  • General Discussion and Conclusions

Section D. The Perspective of the Multivariate Research in Personality

Chapter 10. The Future of the Structural Modeling of Personality

  • The Improvement of Structural Modeling
  • Theoretical Foundations
  • Toward the Cross-level Congruence of Higher-Order Factors
  • Toward a Comprehensive Model of the Psychological Structure
  • Toward Methodological Convergence in Personality Research

Chapter 11. Toward the Optimal Balance Between the Higher-Order Dimensions in Personality Research

  • The Structure of Personality: Classic Hierarchical or Bifactor?
  • Principles, Advantages, and Disadvantages of Both Models
  • Content of the Higher-Order Factors: Method or Meaning?
  • Conclusions

Product details

  • Edition: 1
  • Latest edition
  • Published: March 16, 2017
  • Language: English

About the author

JM

Janek Musek

Dr. Janek Musek is Professor Emeritus at the University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. He obtained his PhD in Psychology from the University of Ljubljana and brings nearly five decades of experience in behavioral and organizational psychology. His teaching experience spans personality psychology, differential psychology, motivation and emotion, and cognitive psychology. In his tenure at the University of Ljubljana, Dr. Musek served as Head of the Department of Pyschology, Vice-Dean of Faculty of Arts and Sciences, and Vice-Rector of the University of Ljubljana. He is the cofounder of Institute of Ethics and Values Jože Trontelj (IEV) and the Institute of Personality Psychology. Dr. Musek is best known for his development of the General Personality Factor theory, which illustrates the interconnection of the Big Five dimensions of personality. He is globally recognized for his contributions to organizational stress management, well-being, and psychological health. He has published dozens of monographs, including Elsevier's The General Factor of Personality.

Affiliations and expertise
Professor Emeritus, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia

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