An 8-module personality course taught by renowned psychologist and bestselling author Dr. Jordan B. Peterson, aimed at helping you understand yourself and others based on the “Big Five” model of personality.
Over 20,000 students have joined the course, with an overall rating of 4.5 out of 5.
This five-hour, densely-packed course features a combination of theory and narrative, covering the breadth of a full-length university course taught by Dr. Peterson.
Access to Dr. Peterson’s scientifically-backed personality assessment will allow you to have a more personalized and relevant experience with the course material. Or, you can gift it to a friend!
The lectures will be accompanied by written summaries with key takeaways, as well as references, additional reading material and full time-stamped transcripts available to facilitate learning.
An exclusive community for members to discuss the lectures and the topic of personality.
Dr. Jordan B. Peterson is a professor of psychology at the University of Toronto, a clinical psychologist and the author of the multi-million copy bestseller 12 Rules for Life: An Antidote to Chaos, the #1 nonfiction book of 2018 in North America, Europe, Australia, and New Zealand. It has been published in over 50 languages and has received worldwide acclaim.
“The most influential public intellectual in the western world right now.”
Every day, you have to interact with yourself as well as other people in your family, work, and romantic relationships. Each of them has a unique personality.
People are different, and it can be challenging to understand other perspectives because you see the world through the lens of your own particular personality.
Although personality differences can be frustrating, they are important. Each personality type is evolved to solve a different kind of problem. Humans cooperate in societies by solving many kinds of problems together, through these diverse personality types.
Through this course, you can learn to understand yourself and others better, and to more effectively cooperate with other people.
Anyone who is interested in improving their understanding of themselves or their ability to work with other people will find the information presented in this course incredibly valuable and practical.
This 5-hour, densely-packed course features a balanced combination of theory and narrative. It has been designed for those looking to learn about personality without spending tens of hours on research. It is easy to follow and appropriate for anyone interested in the subject, but it is still intellectually challenging. No prerequisite knowledge is required.
“A really, really excellent lesson. Apart from giving an insight into the 'Big 5‘, it's also a dive about what generally constitutes scientific methodology. The topic, which is all but trivial, is explained very concisely and in a way understandable for non-experts. I studied at the ETH Zurich, one of the 'best' universities in Europe, and did a PhD afterwards. Thus, I was privileged to have access to a very large selection of great lectures by excellent scholars. Nevertheless, this has certainly been among the best single lectures I‘ve listened to (in terms of how the material was presented and what I‘ve learned). I‘m very much looking forward to what’s coming next, and I‘m quite certain that it is not only going to be enjoyable but also very valuable for my professional career. P.S. Also great: The access to the audio file, the transcript and the summary of the lesson... Thanks!”
“Excellent videos! I have to lean forward and really listen to keep my head above water in understanding what Dr. P. is talking about. I appreciate this level of complexity and depth; Dr. P. is at his best in this almost improvisational environment; I think it brings out his creative best. The setting was intimate, artisanal, and generative; really beautiful and appropriate. Terrific stuff.”
“The example of balancing the punishment/feedback to the error, in context to development is just unbelievably helpful. With Dr Peterson's example and background, there's a real foundation to what is typically a common-sense axiom, but this grounding makes me feel I can do something now, to make sure I can do this from now on. So practical!”
“I don’t think we can find a comprehensive solution to our complex problems unless we understand, above all, what causes people to think, speak and act differently; therefore, understanding personality differences is extremely essential for humans to be able to compete and cooperate with each other in order to move forward in a way that almost everyone benefits! I have tried many many options and after all, to me, the only course which could offer a proper and deep understanding of personalities is the course provided by Dr. Jordan Peterson!”
“What makes Dr Jordan Peterson unique in the world of psychology is his ability to make extremely complex psychological concepts relatable and understandable to the common person. In the Discovering Personality course, Dr Peterson clearly explains the “Big-5 personality” model, how it was created, its different variations, the assumptions it rests on, and its practical uses. In his typical teaching style, he relates each concept to real-world examples, allowing the listeners to better grasp the concepts. As I attempt to learn more about human psychology on my own, I have found that this course has laid a solid, relatable foundation on which to build my knowledge. As someone who enjoys learning about human psychology but has never had the chance to study the subject in depth, I have found this course immensely enriching and informative.”
“I've listened to many of Dr. Peterson's lectures via YouTube and I’m always delighted by how he forms a coherent progression of the information without notes.”
“I have watched the personality lectures Dr. Peterson posted on YouTube and I can see his arguments are more focused and clear. I definitely appreciate this format.”
“The lecture on positive emotion and extraversion is probably one of the best 40-minute presentations of the topic I can remember seeing in such a form!”
This course is based on the Big Five Personality Model. The Big Five personality traits, also known as the five-factor model (FFM), or by the mnemonic “OCEAN”, is a taxonomy for personality traits. Scientists developed the five-factor model following statistical analysis of the language people use to describe other people. They found that personality adjectives tended to clump into five major categories. The five-factor model emerged from this, and it includes the following traits:
Discover the implicit strengths and weaknesses in your personality and how they can be leveraged to thrive in the world.
Improve your ability to deal with and understand those around you who have different personalities.
Understand how negative emotion relates to personality, how your personality can predispose you to disorders such as depression and anxiety, and what you can do to mitigate it.
Understand the gender differences in personality, and the sociological, political, and economic ramifications of these differences.
Learn valuable insights that can improve many aspects of your life from your work to your personal development, career, relationships and parenthood.
“This course is a toolkit for operating in the world, in your intimate relationships, and in your business relationships. You will find more information here than you would find in the typical full-scale one semester personality course...”
The introductory lecture is an interview with Dr. Peterson discussing the big picture behind the course and its origins. These lectures are the result of years of research, thought, debate, and intellectual refinement. He also speaks about what you will learn in the course and why it is valuable in the present day.
“You spend a tremendous amount of your time engaging with other people. You need to understand what they’re like, and you need to understand what you’re like. People are actually quite different. If you know what the differences are, that means you can cooperate with them better, and compete with them better, and all of that’s positive.”
This lecture introduces the philosophical and psychological underpinnings of personality theory and why you should learn about personality.
Dr. Peterson argues that personalities are evolved solutions to the problem of a highly complex world. Our personalities are the filters of our perception, cognition, and motivation influencing our actions in the world.
This lecture introduces the five-factor model, which will form the basis of the course.
“The concept of grit, for example, is essentially the same as conscientiousness, meaning it doesn’t measure anything you can’t get from conscientiousness. The concept of self-esteem is positive emotion (extraversion) minus negative emotion (neuroticism).”
Learn about the first of the Big Five personality traits: Extraversion. Extraversion is responsible for our positive emotions.
Our positive and negative emotional systems tell us how happy we should be if things are going well and how upset we should be when things are going wrong.
This lecture introduces the personality dimension of neuroticism, which describes a person’s tendency to experience negative emotion.
Dr. Peterson discusses the consequences of excessive negative emotion, how negative emotion manifests in childhood, and strategies for overcoming depression and anxiety.
This lecture is about the personality trait agreeableness. High agreeableness is associated with maternal care, while low agreeableness is linked with competitive behaviour. Is one better than the other?
“There is an obvious language bias that makes it sound like being agreeable is better, but there are pronounced advantages and disadvantages to being at any point on the spectrum.”
In this lecture, you will learn about the gender differences in personality, and the sociological, political, and economic ramifications of these differences.
You’ll also learn about the nature-nurture debate as it pertains to gender differences in personality.
Discover how conscientiousness shapes your life and your career and why it's historically the biggest predictor of modern day success.
Learn why conscientious people are more sensitive to disgust and the fascinating sociopolitical ramifications of this association.
Learn about the role conscientiousness plays in your career and the business world.
Learn about openness to experience, the personality trait related to creativity, curiosity and interest in ideas.
You will also learn about the distribution of IQ, creativity, and openness to experience in the population, and the social implications that follow.
Guide the ones you care for toward a better understanding of themselves. This course would be a thoughtful gift for anyone interested in learning the intricacies of personality.
Offer this gift to help your loved ones work, cooperate, and understand their life better.
Whether it’s used for an in-depth look at this particular area of psychology or as a means to improve quality of life and interpersonal relationships, it will act as a pleasant reminder of your affection.
get the gift voucher
Guide the ones you care for toward a better understanding of themselves. This course would be a thoughtful gift for anyone interested in learning the intricacies of personality.
Offer this gift to help your loved ones work, cooperate, and understand their life better.
Whether it’s used for an in-depth look at this particular area of psychology or as a means to improve quality of life and interpersonal relationships, it will act as a pleasant reminder of your affection.
get the gift voucher
The Big Five Model is backed by a large body of scientific research, making it the most accepted model of human personality. It is also reliable: the same person tested again will generally score quite similarly to how they scored in the past. Many other models of personality are unreliable in this way.
Over the last 10 years, Dr. Peterson has released most of his content for free on YouTube, including recordings of his university lectures on personality. While this course covers much of the same content, it is condensed and streamlined to help you learn more effectively, saving you hours of independent research. He also augments it with his new findings and experiences from the last few years.
Yes, by enrolling in this course you have lifetime access to all 8 video lectures as well all supporting materials.
If you buy the course and realize that it's not for you, or if you're not interested in the material, please contact us. We'll refund your payment in full, no questions-asked, within 30 days after your purchase.
