We describe the Personality Systems Framework for organizing the discipline of psychology (J. D. Mayer, 2005, A tale of two visions: Can a new view of personality help integrate psychology? American Psychologist, Vol. 60, 294-307). The framework consists of a broad outline of topics that psychologists already research, along with a map of psychology's location in relation to other systems of scientific study and a map of its inner psychological functions, such as "energy development" and "knowledge guidance," which organize interrelated areas of research. The Systems Framework uncovers an organization that already is in partial use by psychologists, elucidates it, and uses an expanded version of the approach to better organize the field's major topics. Examples of how the Personality Systems Framework can be applied to education, research, and translational work are provided.
Personal intelligence concerns the ability to understand personality in oneself and others—including the understanding of motives, socioemotional traits, and abilities. We examined if people’s scores on the ability-based Test of Personal Intelligence (TOPI) would be reflected in their narratives about someone whose personality they had learned about. In a Preliminary Study (N = 220), we collected narratives and open-ended descriptions about their learning. In Study 1 (N = 212), experts rated the respondents’ open-ended narratives for their sophistication about personality, defined as their knowledge and complexity of thought around the topic. Respondents also filled out checklists concerning what they learned and their relationship outcomes. Study 2 (N = 299) was a replication and extension in which we added the TOPI. Participants who scored higher on the TOPI produced narratives higher in Sophistication, even after statistical controls for Word Count and Vocabulary (the measures also were largely independent of the Big Five). The findings here may have applications for both testing and training.
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