The Balance of Personality

A brand-new open textbook built around the Big Five personality traits. It covers how the model was discovered, how personality tests are checked for reliability and validity, the person-situation debate and how traits change across life.

Patrick Durkee

A ready-to-teach unit from the American Psychological Association on personality perspectives, the Big Five traits and personality assessment. It includes lesson plans, class activities and critical-thinking exercises for high school teachers.

Simine Vazire

A research collection on the 24 VIA character strengths, the positive side of personality traits. The studies look at how strengths like curiosity, kindness and perseverance are measured and how they relate to well-being and work.

Hadassah Littman-Ovadia, Philippe Dubreuil and Maria Christina Meyers (eds.)

Ernst Kretschmer's classic theory of temperament, which linked body types to personality styles. A key historical text for anyone studying how psychologists first tried to classify temperament and character.

Ernst Kretschmer