Introduction to Psychology
Fields

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Personality psychology

Personality psychology is the scientific study of personality structure, processes and development. One historical account dates its academic emergence to around 1937.

Also called: psychology of personality, personality science

Core subfieldSocial and culture

Type of entry
Core subfieldA long-standing main area of research in psychology. Types are editorial labels, not an official classification.
Cluster
Social life and culturePeople in groups, cultures, communities and politics.
Sources opened
4 of 40 read as a full page, 4 as selected text or an abstract, 0 not verified.
Independent review
Admitted after correctionsClaude Code reviewer agent, separate from the writer, 2026-10-21. 7 claims checked against 4 sources opened by the reviewer.

What it studies

Personality psychology studies personality structure, processes and development. The Association for Research in Personality describes its field as multidisciplinary and does not require members to call themselves personality psychologists. A historical account of early textbooks also places individual differences and personality measurement within the area.

History and people

Scientific work on personality existed before 1937. That year Gordon Allport published Personality: A Psychological Interpretation, which John Kihlstrom says created the field as a topic of academic study, and Floyd Ruch's textbook Psychology and Life appeared with chapters on individual differences and personality measurement. Kihlstrom adds that personality was on the fringes of mainstream psychology for its first 20 years as a subdiscipline. According to a 2008 column by its president, the Association for Research in Personality was founded in 2001.

People and documented roles

  • Gordon Allport. Author of the 1937 book Personality: A Psychological Interpretation
    • Published a book that Kihlstrom credits with creating personality as a topic of academic study. [1]
  • Floyd Ruch. Author of the 1937 textbook Psychology and Life
    • His first edition included chapters on individual differences and personality measurement. [1]

The opened sources document only these two authors with specific roles, both from 1937. They do not document women or scholars outside the United States and Europe, and the association's founders are not named in what was read.

Dated milestones

  • 1937Publication. Year.Allport's Personality: A Psychological Interpretation and Ruch's Psychology and Life appeared; Kihlstrom calls the year a signal one for the scientific study of personality. [1]
  • 2001Society or organization formed. Year.The Association for Research in Personality was founded, per a 2008 president's column; the column says a first pre-conference was held in 2000 and that memories are inconsistent. A society event, not the field's start. [4]

Methods

The sources opened here document measurement as one method: Ruch's 1937 textbook included a chapter on personality measurement. They do not describe the range of research methods in use today, so this guide does not list them. The association describes its own focus as structure, processes and development.

Training and applications

The Association for Research in Personality holds a biennial conference and co-sponsors the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science. Personality psychology is a research area, and the sources opened describe no credential for it. Where practice titles or licenses exist, regulators in each jurisdiction set them, not this guide.

Boundaries and limits

Kihlstrom's statement that Allport's book created the field is one author's characterization, and he also notes earlier scientific work. The association's own history is incomplete: a 2008 column says memories of those involved are inconsistent and that the history needs to be written. The sources do not document personality psychology outside the United States, or specific university units.

Evidence behind the claims

  • The Association for Research in Personality describes itself as dedicated to the multidisciplinary study of personality structure, processes and development.

    What it studiesThe organization's own descriptionSources: [2] [3]Where: About page tagline; homepage mission text

  • The Association for Research in Personality states that members do not have to define themselves as personality psychologists.

    What it studiesThe organization's own descriptionSource: [2]Where: About page, membership paragraph

  • Kihlstrom calls 1937 a signal year for the scientific study of personality and says Gordon Allport's book Personality: A Psychological Interpretation, published that year, created the field as a topic of academic study.

    History and peopleDocumented in the sourceSource: [1]Where: Opening discussion of 1937

  • Kihlstrom notes that scientific work on personality existed before 1937 and that the first edition of Floyd Ruch's Psychology and Life, published in 1937, included chapters on individual differences and personality measurement.

    History and peopleDocumented in the sourceSource: [1]Where: Discussion of Ruch's textbook

  • Kihlstrom says that for its first 20 years as an academic subdiscipline, personality psychology was on the fringes of mainstream psychology.

    Boundaries and limitsDocumented in the sourceSource: [1]Where: Later paragraphs on the subdiscipline's early status

  • William Revelle's 2008 president's column says the Association for Research in Personality was founded in 2001 by a group of personality psychologists, that its annual meeting was a pre-conference held with the Society for Personality and Social Psychology meeting for its first eight years, and, in a footnote, that the first pre-conference was in 2000, that memories of those involved are somewhat inconsistent, and that the history of ARP's founding needs to be written.

    History and peopleDocumented in the sourceSource: [4]Where: Column text and footnotes on founding

  • The Association for Research in Personality holds a biennial conference and co-sponsors the journal Social Psychological and Personality Science.

    Training and applicationsThe organization's own descriptionSource: [3]Where: Homepage, conference and journal notes

Where it appears

University examples

Examples show documented structures. They are not a ranking, a census, or a statement about admission or licensing.

In the Psy101 course

This is course relevance only. It is not evidence for the historical or practice claims on this page.See the full course map.

Sources and inspection

4 of 4 sources were opened and read at the level shown. A source marked as not verified supports no claim on this page by itself.

  1. [1]
    Fifty Years of PersonalityJohn F. Kihlstrom (University of Wisconsin), chapter for a memorial volume for Floyd M. Ruch edited by E. R. Hilgard; hosted on Kihlstrom's course resources (University of California, Berkeley server), undated. Review article. Supports the history.Selected text readRead the essay's passages on 1937, Allport, Ruch and the fringe status of personality; the page shows no publication year and the full essay was not read.
  2. [2]
    About (Association for Research in Personality)Association for Research in Personality, undated. Professional association. Supports the definition of the area.Selected text readRead the tagline and About text; the page gives no founding date and points to a separate history page, which was not opened.
  3. [3]
    Association for Research in Personality (homepage)Association for Research in Personality, undated. Professional association. Supports a statement about practice.Selected text readRead the mission text, a note on the biennial conference and the co-sponsored journal; navigation and other pages were not seen.
  4. [4]
    ARP: a short past, a promising future (President's Column, P: The Online Newsletter for Personality Science, Issue 3)Association for Research in Personality, 2008. Society history. Supports the history.Selected text readRead the column by William Revelle, shown as Issue 3, September 2008, including its footnote on the first pre-conference.

Independent source review: Claude Code reviewer agent, separate from the writer, 2026-10-21. Verdict: Admitted after corrections. Of 7 claims checked, 6 were supported as written, 1 were reworded and 0 were removed.