This theorist-by-theorist approach to personality theories explores how the personal histories, conflicts, and intentions of each theorist contributed to his or her portraits of people. The text presents the "sequence of thinking" for more than 20 theorists and the changes embodied in the streams of their ideas over time. The authors emphasize each theorist's life history as the basis for the ideas that constitute his or her theories, making them easier to understand as "pictures of human nature." Theories are introduced with scrupulous attention to historical, experimental, and clinical research. Where appropriate, extensive quotations and citations from the theorists' own works are included.

Professor Robert N. Sollod has revised the text in a manner that preserves and improves upon the best features of the late Christopher Monte's work. The Seventh Edition has seen a significant revision including rewriting and updating of most of the chapters, the addition of a chapter on evolutionary psychology, and the recasting or change in emphasis of a number of chapters. A glossary has been added at the end of each chapter.