Many texts attempt to bridge theory and research. They include one or two pages dealing with important theorists--Jung, Adler, Freud, et al.--inserted into chapters focused on academic studies. In most cases, the discussion fails to do justice to the theorists and the relationship between the ideas and the empirical work is often tenuous at best.

This book takes a different approach. An alternative to Ewen's An Introduction to Theories of Personality, this book features a chapter on each major type of theory followed by a separate chapter reviewing the relevant research, controversies, and emerging findings.

Although it incorporates material from the previous text, there are substantial differences. Personality: A Topical Approach devotes more attention to psychological research, and considerably less attention to the more minor and abstruse aspects of various theories. Chapters are devoted to the following theories:
*pychoanalytically-oriented,
*tait,
*cgnitive,
*self-humanistic, and
*behaviorism.

While the book emphasizes major research foci (the Big Five personality factors, self-efficacy, self-esteem, and more), it also includes a chapter on research methods and coverage of issues often omitted from other texts such as dream interpretation, cognitions and the Holocaust, scientific inquiry, and near-death experiences. The book also provides study questions, a "help" section, and a glossary.