What is Personal Intelligence?

As defined here, personal intelligence is an intelligence that involves reasoning about personality and personality-related information.  Each of us has a personality, and personal intelligence allows us to reason both about ourselves and about other people. For example, whenever we notice another person’s pattern of behavior—that she is good at problem solving, or late, or kind—we are using our personal intelligence to describe the individual and, often, to anticipate her future behavior.

The Major Areas of this Website

This site provides an overview of the theory of personal intelligence. The major areas of the website concern:

• The theory of personal intelligence, including how the theory came to be, definitions of personality and personality-related information and related topics.
• The book, Personal Intelligence by John D. Mayer, including a description, reviews, and on-line extras from the author.
• The measurement of personal intelligence, including best practices in the area and the research group developing tests of personal intelligence.
• A section for students and researchers that provides an overview of publications in the area and research laboratories that focus on topics related to personality and personal intelligence.
• Features related to the above including on-line extras for the book Personal Intelligence, a sample quiz of personal intelligence, and TED talks from psychologists on related topics.

Miscellaneous Matters

Navigation Help: Use the top “spanner” menu to go to an area of the site. To navigate within an area, use the section menu, which appears to the right or beneath the page (depending on the size of your device’s screen).

The site is maintained by John D. Mayer. See here for a bit more about the site.