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Individual Differences and Personality

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International Handbook of Psychology Learning and Teaching

Part of the book series: Springer International Handbooks of Education ((SIHE))

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Abstract

This chapter first introduces the aims, scope, history, achievements, and current state of personality and individual differences (PID) as a subdiscipline of psychology. Section “Purposes and Rationale of Curricula” describes guidelines for the composition of PID curricula provided by academic associations. The third section presents knowledge, comprehension, and competencies as components of the content to be taught. Knowledge includes concepts, theories, research methods, controversies, and important research findings. Comprehension pertains to the location of PID in psychology, the hierarchical structure of personality, the bandwidth-fidelity dilemma, the difference between absolute and relative consistency and stability, the data box, and the meaning of heritability estimates. Competencies and skills consist of tracing literature and appropriate instruments, administering tests correctly, reading texts, designing and executing studies, and analyzing data. Section “Teaching, Learning, and Assessment: Approaches and Strategies” introduces teaching, learning, and assessment resources. Section “Challenges and Lessons Learned” describes challenges in teaching PID, resulting from confusion about the existence of multiple theories and research designs and from insufficient knowledge about research methods. Section “Teaching, Learning, and Assessment Resources” recommends books, journals, and online materials as teaching and learning resources.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, University of Koblenz-Landau, Landau, 76829, Germany

    Manfred Schmitt

Authors
  1. Manfred Schmitt
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Correspondence to Manfred Schmitt .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Educational Research, University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

    Joerg Zumbach

  2. Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Bonita Springs, FL, USA

    Douglas A. Bernstein

  3. School of Science - Faculty of Psychology, Psychology of Learning and Instruction, Technische Universitaet Dresden, Dresden, Sachsen, Germany

    Susanne Narciss

  4. Department of Human, Philosophical and Educational Sciences (DISUFF), University of Salerno, Fisciano, Italy

    Giuseppina Marsico

Section Editor information

  1. University of Salzburg, Salzburg, Austria

    Joerg Zumbach

  2. Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, USA

    Douglas A. Bernstein

  3. Psychologie des Lehrens und Lernens, Technische Universität Dresden, Dresden, Deutschland

    Susanne Narciss

  4. Department of Human, Philosophic, and Education Sciences, University of Salerno, Salerno, Italy

    Giuseppina Marsico

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Schmitt, M. (2023). Individual Differences and Personality. In: Zumbach, J., Bernstein, D.A., Narciss, S., Marsico, G. (eds) International Handbook of Psychology Learning and Teaching. Springer International Handbooks of Education. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-28745-0_24

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