Theories of Personality

The book organizes personality theory by theorist and by school, presenting each major figure's system as a coherent whole before moving to the next. A 1976 PsycCRITIQUES review of the first edition described the treatment as aimed at 'the undergraduate student who needs a coherent exposition of received-knowledge in this complex field,' covering Freud, Adler, Horney, Fromm, Sullivan, Jung, Murray, Erikson, Allport, Rogers, Maslow, Kelly, Cattell, Skinner, Bandura, and Walters . The book rejects the alternative of a topic-by-topic survey that fragments each theory across chapters on motivation, development, and assessment. Instead, it treats each theory as a distinct lens on human nature, allowing students to compare assumptions about determinism, consciousness, and the sources of behavior across systems.

The biographical emphasis is a deliberate pedagogical strategy and has been widely praised. Publisher descriptions note that the book demonstrates 'the influence of events in theorists' personal and professional lives on the development of these theories' . Student reviews on Goodreads confirm that this dimension works: one reader observed that the book proves 'how psychologists' lives influenced their theories,' while another praised how the book made historical figures 'become people' . Instructor testimonials are also enthusiastic, with one stating 'I've never seen a personality text as good (as Schultz/Schultz), and the students love it' . The biographical approach is not merely decorative; it embodies the book's argument that theories are human products shaped by the problems their creators faced.

The book has gone through at least eleven editions, and the edition matters substantially for citation and content. The first edition was published by Brooks/Cole in 1976 . Sydney Ellen Schultz joined as co-author by the fifth edition (1994) . The eleventh edition appeared in 2017 . Across editions, the authors added coverage of race, gender, and cultural issues in personality assessment , and the roster of theorists expanded—the first edition did not include a separate chapter on Erich Fromm, while later editions do . Readers should specify which edition they cite, as pagination and chapter structure differ significantly between the 1976 original and the 2017 eleventh edition.

The two books apply the same historical sensibility to different domains. A History of Modern Psychology traces the rise and decline of schools of thought—structuralism, functionalism, behaviorism—as competing systems. Theories of Personality applies that schools-of-thought logic to the study of individual personality, treating Freudian psychoanalysis, trait theory, humanistic psychology, and social learning as rival frameworks with distinct assumptions about human nature. Both books share a biographical orientation, using theorists' lives to illuminate their ideas. The relationship is one of application: the historical framework developed in the history textbook is applied to the specific content of personality theory, making the two books complementary for students taking both courses.

The most substantive criticism concerns the book's treatment of culture and gender. A 2025 critical book review in an Indonesian counseling journal argues that while Schultz and Schultz include sections on race, gender, and culture, the book's epistemological foundations remain rooted in Western assumptions about the self as an autonomous, internally driven agent . The reviewer contends that the text does not adequately interrogate how collectivist cultural contexts produce different conceptions of personality, citing Markus and Kitayama's work on interdependent self-construal as a lens the book lacks. This is a criticism of the book's framing rather than its accuracy: the theorists covered are presented faithfully, but the selection and interpretation reflect a particular cultural standpoint.

Yes—it is explicitly designed for undergraduates encountering personality theory for the first time. The 1976 review described it as aimed at 'the undergraduate student who needs a coherent exposition of received-knowledge' . The writing style has been praised for its accessibility: an instructor testimonial notes that 'the style of writing is almost orally communicated, as if the authors are setting down in a classroom designed for conversational discussion' . A student reviewer on Goodreads called it readable and recommended it for non-psychology students seeking a general introduction, though the same reviewer suggested that for more professional study, a different text might be preferable . The book assumes no advanced knowledge, making it suitable for introductory courses and general readers.

Coverage of culture and gender expanded significantly across editions. The eighth edition (2005) description states that the book 'explores the ways in which race, gender, and cultural issues play a part in the study of personality and in personality assessment' . Earlier editions, including the first (1976) and second (1981), did not foreground these topics . The addition reflects broader changes in psychology's self-understanding rather than a change in the book's core method. However, as the 2025 critical review notes, inclusion does not necessarily mean integration: the cultural material is often presented as an addendum to theories developed in Western contexts rather than as a challenge to their universality . Readers seeking a more critical cultural psychology of personality should supplement this text with work by Markus, Kitayama, or Triandis.