Acknowledgments

Making Sense of People grew out of my lifelong curiosity about personality differences. Writing this book gave me the opportunity to organize my thoughts and find out what’s new in the field.

In surveying the vast literature on personality, I benefited greatly from the writings of many scholars, a few of whom I’d like to single out. On personality traits: Paul Costa, Lewis Goldberg, Robert McCrae, and Walter Mischel. On troublesome personality patterns: Aaron T. Beck, Theodore Millon, John Livesley, John Oldham, and Thomas Widiger. On the genetics of personality: David Goldman, Ken Kendler, Robert Plomin, and Daniel Weinberger. On stability and change in personality: Avshalom Caspi and Brent Roberts. On morality and character: Robert Cloninger, Jonathan Haidt, Christopher Peterson, Martin Seligman, Richard Shweder, and Frans de Waal. On identity and life stories: Dan McAdams. Thank you all.

This book was made possible by longstanding support from the University of California, which has provided me with an exceptional intellectual environment for more than forty years—first at its San Diego campus (UCSD) and, since 1986, at its San Francisco campus (UCSF). Throughout this period I also benefited greatly from research funding from the National Institutes of Health and from private foundations, especially The McKnight Foundation. I would also like to acknowledge the friendship and support of Jeanne and Sandy Robertson, who helped me establish the Center for Neurobiology and Psychiatry at UCSF, and of Shari and Garen Staglin, who assisted in its further development through grants from The Staglin Music Festival for Mental Health and The International Mental Health Research Organization (IMHRO).

I discussed this book with many colleagues and received valuable suggestions from Steve Hamilton, Adrienne Larkin, John Livesley, Liz Perle, and Steve Rosen. I am also grateful for personal help from other colleagues: Peter Carroll, Glenn Chertow, Kerry Cho, Arkady Gendelman, James Ostroff, and Lisa Vail. And I thank Jody Williams for assistance with the bibliography.

Special thanks go to my agent, Lisa Queen, for her perseverance, wisdom, thoughtfulness, good humor, and for guiding me through the changing world of book publishing. I also thank my editor, Kirk Jensen, who first persuaded me to start writing trade books twenty years ago when he commissioned Molecules and Mental Illness for Scientific American Library. Kirk keeps telling me that I have other books in me, and I thank him for helping me bring this one to life. I also thank the outstanding professionals at Pearson/FT Press, especially project editor Lori Lyons, copy editor Krista Hansing, cover designer Chuti Prasertsith, and senior compositor Gloria Schurick.

Finally I’d like to thank a few members of my family, who each keep teaching me a lot about personality. I am fortunate to have my daughters, Elizabeth and Jessica, who are so close to each other and so close to me. I am fortunate to have my loving grandchildren, Jonah, Ellen, and Asher, my son-in-law Benjamin, and my stepson Whitney. And I am particularly fortunate to have my wife and soul mate, Louann Brizendine, who finishes my sentences, reads my mind, and keeps me continually inspired and entertained. My cup runneth over.