Personality psychology and postmodernism

Interest in constructing theories of the individual person as a whole has b een relatively weak since 1950. This disinterest, especially in the past 2 decades, may, it is suggested, be partly due to the growth and popularity o f postmodern thought, which seems to he in conflict with the idea that beha vior is controlled by real psychological properties within the individual. The aim of this article is to question some of the main postmodern assumpti ons that represent obstacles to a renewed interest in the nature of the ind ividual. It is concluded that the parts of postmodernism that are inconsist ent with a science of the person as a whole are all false-and that the part that is true is consistent with a science of the individual. (C) 2000 Acad emic Press.