The power of personality

The world offers many rewards to individuals who understand themselves and other people – or so we have been told. Since ancient times philosophers from around the world have spoken of the value of understanding the people we encounter. Many of humanity’s earliest written documents – dating back to 2500bce – urge us to read people carefully. But the authority of ancient (and more recent) philosophers can take us only so far. Further developments awaited the founding of psychological science and empirical research into accurate person perception and self-knowledge. The theory of personal intelligence described here draws philosophical and psychological ideas together and opens a new line of research directed at understanding ourselves. This lays the groundwork for a new measure in the area: the Test of Personal Intelligence