David C. Funder (Ph.D., Stanford University 1979) is a personality psychologist and a Distinguished Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Riverside. He has written a number of important textbooks and research articles pertaining to the field of personality psychology. He used to be a past editor of the Journal of Research in Personality, as well as being a former secondary editor of the Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. Funder has been praised for his studies on personality judgment. He had also published research over the attribution theory and the "delay of gratification".
Research
Researching personality judgment
Funder has worked with professor Maynard C. Krueger researching over personality judgments. Their work consisted of trying to decipher which variables and factors result in either accurate or inaccurate personality judgments made from psychologists and "every day people". The experiment of their research consisted of the two professors retrieving self analyzed information about the patients, judgments created from close acquaintances of the patients, and also recordings of the subject's behaviour using taped cameras. This research led to the understanding that: a "good judge", a "good target", a "good trait", and "good information" will lead to a more accurate personal judgement. Much of this research follows a Q-sort paradigm. The Riverside Accuracy Project describes the Riverside situation Q-sort and the Riverside behavioral Q-sort.
Researching the "delay of gratification" Funder has also experimented in the area of an idea known as the "delay of gratification". Funder had performed this experiment with Daryl Bem. To research this idea the two psychologists gathered up a group of children and their parents for a study. The parents were first asked to give personality explanations of their children. Their children were then put into a room sitting in a chair with a bell in front of it. Next, the children were shown two pieces of candy, one being very appetizing and loved by the child, and the second piece of candy given to the child was less liked. The child was then told that if he or she rang the bell an adult will automatically enter the room presenting the candy of less desire, but if he or she waited for someone to come into the room the child would be rewarded with their candy of choice. During this experiment, the personalities of the children willing to wait the longest time for the candy contained an element of being mostly well mannered, obedient, and helpful, but not special and smart. The experiment helped lead Funder to understand that what he actually was testing was the child’s ability to cooperate with adults, not the child's ability to delay gratification.
Textbooks authored by David C. Funder
Funder, D.C. (2019). The Personality Puzzle 8th edition New York: Norton
Funder, D.C. (2016). The Personality Puzzle 7th edition New York: Norton
Funder, D.C. (2012). The Personality Puzzle 6th edition New York: Norton
Funder, D.C. (2010). The Personality Puzzle 5th edition New York: Norton
Funder, D.C. (2007). The Personality Puzzle 4th edition New York: Norton
Funder, D.C. (2001). The Personality Puzzle 3rd edition New York: Norton
Funder, D.C. (2001). The Personality Puzzle 2nd edition New York: Norton
Funder, D.C. (1999). Personality judgment: A realistic approach to person perception San Diego, CA: Academic Press Funder, D.C. (1995). On the accuracy of personality judgement: A realistic approach Psychological Review, 102, 652–670 Funder, D.C., Parke, R., Tomlinson-Keasey, C., & Widaman, K. (Eds.) (1993). Studying lives through time: Approaches to personality and development. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association Funder, D.C., & West, S.G. (Eds.) (1993) Consensus, self-other agreement, and accuracy in personality judgment: An introduction Journal of Personality, 64, 457–476 Funder, D.C. (1991). Global traits: A neo-Allportian approach to personality. Psychological Science, 2, 31–39 Funder, D.C. (1987). Errors and mistakes: Evaluating the accuracy of social judgment. Psychological Bulletin, 101, 75–90. Funder, D.C. (1966). The Arden American. 1st edition Sacramento, CA: The Funderbolt News Service.
