Volume 3 of this noteworthy series presents contemporary advances in psychological science that address classic questions about personality dynamics. Twenty-two contributors discuss three challenging themes in personality dynamics: processes of meaning construction, the interplay between personality and the social world, and the embodied nature of the mind. Several topics, such as personality as a complex system, reciprocal interactions between persons and situations, the interplay of cognitive structures and affective or motivational processes, and the need to study concrete contextualized persons rather than abstract decontextualized variables, cut across the majority of the chapters and lend coherence to the volume as a whole. The book itself is an interacting system of theories and findings intended to spur further advances in the study of personality dynamics. "This outstanding volume features exciting new developments in the scientific study of personality. It reflects the inevitable interdependencies between epistemic, social and motivational factors that jointly elucidate the fundamental antinomy of human change and stability. A stimulating and inspiring read." -- Arie W. Kruglanski, Distinguished University Professor, University of Maryland, College Park. " O]f interest to personality researchers who wish to further understand the functions behind the variability of human behavior." -- Julie Aitken Schermer, Personality and Individual Differences

These are intellectually exciting times in the fields of personality, cognition, and emotion, with rapid progress being achieved at both theoretical and empirical levels. There are now sufficient findings to provide the basis for integrative theories within these disciplines. In Volume 2 of the series, the editors and contributors examine the interactive influences of personality, cognition, and emotion in order to attain a comprehensive understanding of human behavior. Chapters in Part I focus on the relevance to emotion and cognition of individual differences in trait anxiety, emotional intelligence, aging, agentic traits, and communal traits. By contrast, Part II is concerned with emotions and with the relationships between emotional states and various aspects of individual differences and cognitive processes: What factors determine the nature and intensity of emotional experience? How is an individual's behavior changed as a result of being in a given emotional state? The concluding chapter, with over one hundred references, presents an integration of the research areas discussed in the book and provides an excellent theoretical framework that will prove invaluable for further research and theory. "After perusing the chapters included in Volume 2 . . . I am firmly convinced that researchers and students interested in personality and social psychology will find this book both challenging and exciting. My congratulations to all those who contributed in different ways to this significant work." From the Foreword by Jan Strelau, Pro-Rector for Research Warsaw School of Social Sciences and Humanities From a review " S]ets the bar very high in seeking to integrate domains that are divergent, not only in terms of their content . . . but also in terms of their preferred methodologies, which frequently appear to be antithetical . . . . Although the lofty aim of integration is ultimately unrealized, at the end of the book the reader is left with a newfound impression that it is, quite possibly, realizable." K. V. Petrides in Personality and Individual Differences