Research Catalog

Title

A theory of personality development / Luciano L'Abate, with the assistance of Charles H. Bryson.

Author

L'Abate, Luciano, 1928-2016

Publication

New York : Wiley, ©1994.

Items in the Library & Off-site

Details

Additional Authors

Bryson, Charles H.

Description

xiv, 313 pages : illustrations; 24 cm.

Summary

With characteristic humility Luciano L'Abate has entitled this groundbreaking volume simply A Theory of Personality Development. But the theories put forth in these pages are anything but humble, representing, as they do, a radical departure from tradition. Unlike traditional theories of personality which have tended to be somewhat metaphysical, seeking to understand personality in a vacuum, Dr. L'Abate's theory is firmly rooted in the social and existential exigencies of everyday life as experienced within the five fundamental contexts of home, work, leisure, the marketplace (grocery shopping, barbershops, malls, etc.), and in transit. At the heart of the theory is the conviction that the ability to love and to negotiate are the sine qua non of personal competence, with the family as the major determinant of both. Balancing a keen sense of humanity with unwavering scientific rigor, Dr. L'Abate replaces many of the shopworn abstractions of traditional personality theory with concepts rooted in the fluid realities of family and social interaction. For instance, in place of self-esteem, which is a nonrelational and intrapsychic concept, are factors such as the attribution of importance to self and selected others and the ability to experience intimacy. He also integrates many social psychological models, such as social comparison, resource exchange, and ecological theories within a developmental, contextual framework. Since, in Dr. L'Abate's theory, personality development is viewed as the interplay of fundamental abilities in basic relative settings, the differences between personality function and dysfunction become more easily distinguishable. Hence, while previous theories saw personality development as separate or distinct from psychopathology this theory shows how normal development and deviance are corollaries and extensions of one another. In addition, Dr. L'Abate illustrates how, in light of the theory outlined in this book, humanistic and behavioral approaches to personality are quite compatible both conceptually and methodologically. Offering much more than just a novel twist on traditional psychological theory, A Theory of Personality Development propounds a revolutionary new approach to the understanding of personality and personality development. As such, it is essential reading for personality researchers, students, and all psychologists in clinical, developmental, abnormal, and social psychology.

Series Statement

Wiley series on personality processes

Uniform Title

Wiley series on personality processes

Alternative Title

Personality development.

Subject

• Personality development
• Personality Development
• Psychological Theory
• Persoonlijkheidsontwikkeling
• Desenvolvimento da personalidade
• Personalidade

Note

• "A Wiley-Interscience publication."

Bibliography (note)

• Includes bibliographical references (p. 265-294) and indexes.

Contents

Machine derived contents note: Definition Of Terms. -- What Is a Theory?. -- What Is Personality?. -- What Is Development?. -- Theoretical Assumptions. -- The First Assumption of Space: Approach-Avoidance. -- The Second Assumption of Time: Discharge-Delay. -- Modalities And Competencies. -- Being Equals Presence. -- Doing Equals Performance. -- Having Equals Production. -- Settings. -- Home. -- Work. -- Leisure Time. -- Priorities. -- Applications And Theory Testing. -- Testing Through Evaluation. -- Testing Through Interventions. -- Conclusion. -- The Adequacy of the Theory. -- References. -- Indexes.

ISBN

• 0471303038
• 9780471303039

LCCN

93012795

OCLC

• ocm27810501
• 27810501
• SCSB-2006175

Owning Institutions

Princeton University Library