Humans are complex social beings. To understand human behaviour, an
integrated perspective is required – one which considers both what we
regularly do (our personality traits) and what motivates us (our values).
Personality, Values, Culture uses an evolutionary perspective to look at the
similarities and differences in personality and values across modern
societies. Integrating research on personality and human values into a
functional framework that highlights their underlying compatibilities
(driven by shared genetic and brain mechanisms), Fischer describes how
personality is shaped by the complex interplay between genes and the
environment, both over the course of human evolution and within the
lifespan of individuals. He proposes a gene-culture coevolution model of
personality and values to explain how and why people differ around the
world and how genes, economics, social conditions, and climate jointly
shape personality.

1. Introduction: the quest to understand the person; 2. Everything is change: a primer to
evolution; 3. The big five personality traits and human values; 4. Examining the common
structure of traits and values; 5. Explaining personality structures: the relative importance of genetic; 6. Searching for the underlying mechanisms in the brain and the situation and cultural differences in values and traits; 7. Is the personality world two-dimensional? The (in)stability of the trait-value structure across cultures; 8. understanding structural variation:resources, threats and the power of the situation; 9. Values and traits as adaptive strategies;10. Traits and values across the lifespan; 11. Evolutionary genetics of personality; 12. Whyshould we care about personality, culture and evolution?