Chapter 9: Personality

Research on Generativity:

McAdam's model shows how generativity results from: o Complex interconnections between societal and inner forces, thus, creating a concern for the next generation and a belief in the goodness of the human enterprise

Religiosity and Spiritual Support:

Older adults use religion more often than any other strategy to help them cope with problems in life o Spiritual support provides a strong influence on identity o Among Aboriginal Canadians, spiritual elders are wisdom keepers and repositories of sacred ways

Research on Generativity

Multidimensional model shows how generativity results from interconnections among societal and inner forces (figure 9.1) The tension between creating a product or outcome that outlives oneself and selflessly bestowing ones efforts as a gift to the next generation results in a concern for the next generation and a belief in the goodness of the human enterprise Positive resolution finds middle age adults developing a generative commitment that produces generative actions Generative concern relates to life satisfaction, generative action does not Can be expressed by adults of all ages Middle aged adults are more concerned with it

Temperament summary:

Novelty Seeking and Harm Avoidance may be useful measures Reward Dependence and Persistence are suspect Little evidence for a second-order Temperament factor Temperament Model worked equally well for men and women

Dispositional Traits across Adulthood

+ 3 assumptions are made about traits 1) Traits are based on comparisons of individuals, behave there are no absolute quantitative standards for concepts 2) The qualities or behaviours making up a trait must be distinctive enough to avoid confusion 3) Traits attributed to a specific person are assumed to be stable characteristic + Trait: any distinguishable, relatively enduring way that one individual differs from others + Trait Theories: assume little change in personality across adulthood Trait vs. States Trait: Eduring (e.g. shyness) State: Transient (E.g. feeling "down in the dumps")

What do you think the primary question is with respect to personality and aging?

+ Is it stable, or does it change? + What we find depends on the level of analysis and how we ask the question (e.g. mean levels of change vs. intraindividual change).

Life Narratives, Identity, and the Self

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In search of the midlife crisis

A key idea in life transition theories is the midlife crisis o The idea that at middle age we take a good look at ourselves in the hopes of achieving a better understanding of who we are - Many adults face difficult issues and make behavioral changes Very little data supports the claim that all people inevitably experience a crisis in middle age o Most middle-aged people do point to both gains and losses, positives and negatives in their lives This transition may be better characterized as a midlife correction o Reevaluating one's roles and dreams and making the necessary corrections

Theories based on life transitions:

Among the most popular theories of adult personality development Based on the idea that adults go through a series of life transitions, or passages o Few of these theories have substantial databases, and none are based on representative samples Life transitions tend to overestimate the commonality of age-linked transitions

Whitbourne's Identity Theory:

Argues that people build conceptions of how their lives should proceed They create a unified sense of their past, present, and future o The life-span construct People's identity changes over time via Piaget's concepts of assimilation and accommodation The life-span construct has two parts o A scenario: this includes future expectations or a game plan for one's life; it is strongly related to age norms o A life story: a personal narrative history that organizes past events into a coherent sequence

McAdam's Life-Story Model:

Argues that people create a life story o That is, an internalized narrative with a beginning, middle, and an anticipated ending There are 7 essential features of a life story o Narrative tone o Image o Theme o Ideological setting o Nuclear episodes o Character o An ending Adults are said to reformulate their life stories throughout adulthood both at the conscious and unconscious levels o The goal is to have a life story that is Coherent Credible Open to new possibilities Richly differentiated Reconciling of opposite aspects of oneself Integrated within one's sociocultural context

Kegans Theory of Self Concept

Attempted to integrate the development of self-concept and cognitive development Made 6 stages of the development of self corresponding to stages of cognitive development First 3 stages: incorporative, impulsive, imperial - Correspond to sensorimotor, preoperational and concrete operational stages - During this time, children move from knowing themselves on the basis of reflexes to knowing themselves through needs and interests Interpersonal stage - Beginning of formal operational thought, where you being to develop a sense of interpersonal mutuality Institutional stage - When people move to a mature sense of identity based on taking control of their own life and developing an ideology - Late adolescence Interindividual stage - Acquisition of post formal thought, comes the understanding that the self is a complex system that takes into account other people A person is a complex integrated whole

Critiques of the Five-Factor Model:

Block (1995) takes issue with the methodology that uses laypeople to specify personality descriptors that were used to create the terms of the Five-Factor Model McAdams (1996-1999) points out that any model of dispositional traits says nothing about the core or essential aspects of human nature A major criticism is directed to the notion of stability and change in personalit

Dispositional traits across adulthood

Costa and McCrae found: o Over a 12 year period, 10 personality traits measured by GZTS (a temporary survey) remained stable o Other studies similar to the GZTS found equivalent o Results - however, in the very old, suspiciousness and sensitivity increased What happens to dispositional traits? o Other studies have shown increasing evidence for personality changes as we grow older: = Ursula Staudinger and colleagues found that personality takes on two forms = Personality adjustment: developmental changes in terms of their adaptive value and functionality = Personality growth: ideal end states such as increased self-transcendence, wisdom, and integrity Conclusions about dispositional traits: o Personality traits tend to be stable when data are averaged over large groups of people o But, looking at specific aspects of personality in specific kinds of people, there may be less stability and more change

Possible Selves:

Created by projecting yourself into the future and thinking about what you would like to become, and what you are afraid of becoming Age difference have been observed in both hoped-for and feared selves o Young adults and middle-aged adults report family issues as most important o Middle-aged and older adults report personal issues to be most important However, all groups included physical aspects as part of their most feared selves o Interestingly, young and middle-aged adults see themselves as improving in the future, while older adults do not Ryff identified 6 aspects of psychological well-being: o Self-acceptance o Positive relationships with others o Autonomy o Environmental mastery o Purpose in life o Personal growth

Levels of analysis and personality research:

Dispositional traits: o Aspects of personality that are consistent across different contexts and can be compared across a group along a continuum representing high and low degrees of the characteristic (vs.) o Qualitative methods: Personal concerns Life narrative

Jung's Theory:

Emphasizes that each aspect of a person's personality must be in balance with all the others (e.g. introversionextroversion and masculinity-femininity) Jung was the first theorist to discuss personality development during adulthood o He invented the notion of midlife crisis Jung argues that people move toward integrating these dimensions as they age, with midlife being an especially important period

Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development:

Erikson was the first theorist to develop a lifespan theory of personality development His 8 stages represent the 8 great struggles that he believed people must undergo Each struggle has a certain time of ascendancy o The epigenetic principle - each struggle must be resolved to continue development (but stages may be revisited) The sequence of Erikson's stages are: o Trust vs. mistrust o Autonomy vs. shame and doubt o Initiative vs. guilt o Industry vs. inferiority o Identity vs. identity confusion o Intimacy vs. isolation o Generativity vs. Stagnation o Ego vs. despair

Whitbourne's Identity Theory

Idea that people build their own conceptions of how their lives should proceed Life-span Construct: the persons unified sense of the past, present, and future Many influences: identity, values and social context Has two structural components that in turn are the ways it is manifested 1) The scenario o Consisting of expectations about the future o Translates aspects of our identity that are important at a time into a plan for the future o Influenced by age norms defining key transition points o Game plan for how we want our lives to go 2) The life story o Narrative organizing past events into coherent sequence o Gives events meaning and sense of continuity o Distortions occur with time and retelling There is a continuous feedback between identity and experience; this explains why we evaluate ourselves positively at one point, yet defensive and protective at others Based on piagets concepts of assimilation and accommodation - Assimilation involves using already existing aspects of identity to handle present situations - overreliance makes you resistant to change - Accommodation reflects willingness to let the situation determine what you'll do - often when you don't have well developed identity around the situation Most list family as most important aspect, another was work She found people go through transitions when they feel they needed to, and do so on their own time Assimilation higher in older adulthood and accommodation higher in younger adulthood Assimilation associated with maintaining and enhancing positive self regard thought the minimization of negativity Changing identity through accommodation was associated with poor psychological health

Personal Concerns and Qualitative Stages in Adulthood What's Different about Personal Concerns?

Importance about sociocultural influences on development that shape peoples wants and behaviours Personal concerns take into account a persons developmental context and distinguish between having traits and doing everyday behaviours Personal concerns entail descriptions of what people are trying to accomplish and the goals they create

Labouvie-Vief's Dynamic Integration Theory

Integration of cognitive and personality development Argues the self is a product of the integration of emotion and cognition The integration of the optimization of happiness and the ability to tolerate tension and negativity to maintain objectivity that creates a healthy self concept in adulthood The accomplishment of this integration increases from young though middle adulthood but decreases in late life Mature adults move from representations of the self in young adulthood that are relatively poor differentiated from others, or from social conventions and expectations, to highly differentiated representations in middle age, to less differentiated representations in old age The degree of differentiation in self representation was related to the level of cognitive development

Theories Based on Life Transitions

People go through predictable age related crisis Some crises are followed by periods of relative stability Thus, adulthood consists of a series of alternating periods of stability and change But research methods used to study life transitions are questionable They typically present stages as if everyone does through them

Gender-Role Identity:

People's beliefs about the appropriate characteristics for men and women o They reflect shared cultural beliefs and stereotypes about masculinity and femininity There is some evidence that gender role identity converges in middle age o Men and women are more likely to endorse similar self-descriptions However, these similar descriptions do not necessarily translate into similar behavior Also, older men and women tend to endorse similar statements about masculinity and femininity

What's different about personal concerns?

Personal concerns: o Are contextual in contrast to dispositional traits o Are narrative descriptions that rely on life circumstances o Change over time One "has" personality traits, but "does" behaviors that are important in everyday life

Erikson's Stages of Psychosocial Development

Says personality is determined by the interaction between an inner maturational plan and external societal demands Each stage is marked by a struggle between two opposing tendencies and both are experienced by the person The struggles are resolved through an interactive process involving both the inner psychological and the outer social influences Successful resolutions establish the basic areas of psychosocial strength Unsuccessful resolutions impair ego development in a particular area and adversely affect the resolution of the future struggles Epigenetic Principle:*** - What the sequence of stages are based on - Each psychosocial strength has its own special time of ascendancy, or period of particular importance - It takes a lifetime to acquire all of the psychosocial strengths - Later stages build on the foundation laid in previous ones 1) Trust vs. Mistrust - A conflict an infant faces in developing trust in a world it knows little about - Security and comfort 2) Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt - Child budding understanding they are in charge of their own actions - Understanding changes them from totally reactive beings to ones who can act intentionally - Autonomy is threatened by their inclinations to avoid responsibility for their actions 3) Initiative vs. Guilt - They begin to discover who they are - Take advantage of wider experience to explore the environment on their own, ask questions and imagine possibilities about themselves 4) Industry vs. Inferiority - Increasing interests in interacting with peers, their need for acceptance, and need to develop competencies - Manifested behaviourally by desire to accomplish tasks by working hard - Failure to succeed developing self perceived competencies results in feelings of inferiority 5) Identity vs. Identity Confusion - Struggle is choosing from among a multitude of possible selves the one we will become - Confusion results when we are torn over the possibilities - Trying to balance our need to choose a possible elf and the desire to try out many possible selves 6) Intimacy vs. Isolation - Establishing a fully intimate relationship with another - Intimacy is sharing all aspects of oneself without fearing the loss of identity - If not achieved isolation results

Clarifications and Expansions of Erikson's Theory

Some dismiss the theory as untestable and incomplete Some ideas are leading researchers to reassess the usefulness of Erikson's theory as a guide for research on adult personality development Can be considered a cycle that repeats Achievement is theme throughout the theory Last stage is a struggle between pride and embarrassment, responsibility etc. There is a possibility of an additional stage in emerging adulthood - Some call it incarnation vs. impudence - Resolved through experimental sexuality, temporal and spatial social and intimate relationships, interdependence and self sufficient and dependence and helplessness and relativist and absolutist ideological experimentation Some argue the 7th stage is too broad, and suggest 5 types of generativity 1) Biological and parental generativity - raising children 2) Technical generativity - passing on of specific skills 3) Cultural generativity - being a mentor 4) Agentic generativity - desire to do something that transcends death 5) Communal generativity - participation in a mutual interpersonal reality

Other research on self-concept

Some look at how people organize the various facets of their self concept Older adults compartmentalize the different aspects of self concept more than either younger or middle aged Related to a wide variety of variables such as health and longevity

Religiosity and Spiritual Support

Some use it more that family and friends as support Evidence linking spirituality and health Older adults who are more involved and committed to their faith have better physical and mental health Spiritual Support: seek pastoral care, participate in organized and nonorganized religious activities and express faith in a God who cares for people - as a key factor for understanding how older adults cope Krause found it was a 3 step process of turning to God over problems 1) Differentiating between things that can and cannot be changed 2) Focusing on ones own efforts on the parts of the problem that can be changed 3) Emotionally disconnecting from those aspects of the problem that cannot be changed by focusing on the belief that God provides the best outcome possible for those Appears to be especially important for many African Americans Connection between certain practices and brain activity - Practice meditation show more organized attention systems and less activity in areas of the brain that focus on the self Health care and social service provides should keep in mind the self-reported importance of spirituality in the lives of older adults

Conclusions about Dispositional Traits

The bulk of evidence suggests dispositional traits are relatively stable across adulthood Criticisms of the research point to the need for better statistical analyses and a determination of the role of life experiences Stability in personality traits may be more evident later in the life span

Conclusions about Dispositional Traits:

The idea that personality traits stop changing at age 30 does not have uniform support It could be that, generally speaking, personality traits tend to be stable when data are averaged over large groups of people But looking at specific aspects of personality in specific kinds of people, there may be less stability and more change

Conclusions about Personal Concerns

Theory and research both provide support for change in the personal concerns people report at various times in adulthood

What is a trait theory of personality? What should these theories predict about personality and aging if personality is largely innate?

+ A trait theory, like Costa and McCrae's, assumes that personality is primarily biologically based, and therefore, stable. - Evidence for this exists in the fact that the temperaments of babies predict later behavioral patterns, like shyness. - Also, twin studies show that MZ twins are more similar in personality than DZ twins. + We should not see age-related change in traits, except to the extent that we see changes in relevant neurological function.

McAdams's Life Story Model

+ Argues a persons sense of identity cannot be understood using the language of dispositional traits or personal concerns + Instead, we have to look at what he calls a person's life story. + Imaging reading a novel, and how we can follow the development of a character. +These life-stories contain plots, characters, settings, and themes. + Thus, McAdam's focuses more on the role of experience than traits. + Life-stories work much the same way, but we are creating our own character development which is uniquely determined by how we reconstruct our past and evaluate our possible future. + Identity is not just a collection of traits and goals, but it is based on a story of how the person came into being, where the person has been, where they are going, and who they will become People create a life story with a beginning, middle and end People in westerns societies begin forming their life story in late adolescence, but is rooted in attachments from infancy Generativity marks the attempt to create an appealing story ending There are changing personal identities that are reflected in the emotions conveyed in the story Motivations change and are reflected in the person trying to attain goals - Two most common goal themes are agency (reflecting power, achievement, autonomy) and communion (reflecting love, intimacy, belonging) Examine the development of life stories through autobiographical memory Believe that the model for change in identity over time is a process of fashioning and refashioning ones life story - strongly influenced by culture Reformulation may be at a conscious level, or unconscious

The Case for Stability: The 5 Factor Model

+ Consists of 5 independent dimensions of personality + Neuroticism, extraversion, openness, agreeableness, conscientiousness Neuroticism:*** + 6 facets are anxiety, hostility, self-consciousness, depression, impulsiveness, vulnerability + Anxiety and Hostility underlie traits for anger and fear - High anxiety - nervous, high strung, tense, worried - Hostile - irritable + Self-consciousness and depression related to shame and sorrow - Self-consciousness - sensitive to criticism, teasing, and inferiority - Depression - sadness, hopelessness, loneliness, guilt + Impulsiveness and Vulnerability come out in behaviour - Impulsiveness - give into temptation and desires because of lack of will power - Vulnerability - lower capability to deal effectively with stress + People high in neuroticism tend to be high in all of these traits involved + Typically results in violent and negative emotions Extraversion:*** + 3 interpersonal traits: warmth, gregariousness, assertiveness - Warmth - friendly, compassionate, intimately involved style of interaction - Warmth and gregariousness - sociability - Assertive - take change, make up mind, express thoughts and feelings + 3 temperamental traits: activity, excitement seeking, positive emptions - Activity - Want to keep busy, talk fast, endless energy - Excitement Seeking - Prefer stimulating and exciting environments - Positive emotions - zestful, delightful, fun + Tend to have people oriented jobs, + Value humanitarian goals and persona oriented use of power Openness to Experience:*** + 6 facets represent 6 different areas - Fantasy - vivid imagination and active dream life - Aesthetics - appreciation of art, sensitivity to pure experience for its own sake - Action - willingness to try something new - Ideas - curious and value knowledge - Values - open minded - Strong feelings - see them as a major source of meaning in life + Likely to be in occupations that place a high value on thinking theoretically or philosophically + Typically intelligent and tend to subject themselves to stressful situations Agreeableness:**** + Opposite of antagonism + Trustful, sympathetic, nice + Tend to be overly dependent and self effacing Conscientiousness:*** + Hardworking, ambitious, energetic, scrupulous, persevering + Strong desire to make something of themselves + Opposite - lazy, disorganized, late, aimless

Describe the five factor model

+ Costa and McCrae identified 5 commonly occurring traits: 1. Neuroticism: Worried vs. Calm; Insecure vs. Secure; Self-pitying vs. Self-satisfied. 2. Extraversion: Social vs. retiring; fun-loving vs. sober; Affectionate vs. reserved. 3. Openness: Imaginative vs. down-to-earth; Likes variety vs. likes routine; Independent vs. conforming. 4. Agreeableness: Kind hearted vs. ruthless; Trusting vs. suspicious; helpful vs. uncooperative. 5. Conscientiousness: Organized vs. disorganized; careful vs. careless; self-disciplined vs. weak willed + N,E,O,A,C + The NEO PI (Personality Inventory) measures these traits. + People vary on a continuum for each factor.

What are the two ways that Jung believed personality changes with age?

+ Jung said that OAs become more introverted because of a desire or need to think more about aging and death. + He also thought that the distinction between masculine and feminine aspects of personality becomes more blurred with age. - People suppress the opposite sex characteristics when young to conform to gender stereotypes.

In search of the Midlife Crisis

+ Middle aged adults experience a personal crisis that results in major changes in how they view themselves + Difficult issues are thought to be faced, and intense internal struggles + Far more research fails to document the existence In fact, those who actually experience a crisis may be suffering from general problems of psychopathology The major dynamic that drives such changes may not be age dependent but follow general cognitive changes Midlife Correction: re-evaluating ones roles and dreams and making the necessary corrections Changes people perceive in midlife can be seen as representing both gains and losses, which emphasises two things - The exact timing of change is not fixed but occurs over an extended period of time - Change can be both positive and negative at the same time Some suggest it is a cultural invention In other cultures, transitions and crises are linked to role relations like marriage and relocation

What did Costa and McCrae's find with respect to the stability of traits?

+ Primarily, research suggests that personality does not change with age. + A grumpy old man was probably a grumpy young man. + Some studies have reported change. - but it is not clear whether situational factors were adequately considered. - Related to that, how long can a state last? +Much of the discrepancy may come from various researchers understanding and definition of personality. + By some definitions, traits should not change, so finding stability with age is really just confirming the construct. + For those studies that do report change: - They tent to examine intraindividual change, not mean levels of change. - Neuroticism tends to decrease (Cross-sectional studies?). - Agreeableness and Conscientiousness increase. - Openness to new experience decreases. + CONCLUSION: As with most things, the truth is probably somewhere in between. - Probably, our biology gives us a starting point and range within which we can vary. - Experience then determines the trajectory of change.

What Happens to Dispositional Traits Across Adulthood

+ Research suggests personality traits stop changing by age 30 + Some changes did occur in the very old - suspiciousness and sensitivity + But evidence suggests that stability and change can be detected in personality trait development across the adult life span + Extraversion and openness decrease with age + Agreeableness increases with age + Conscientiousness appears to peak in the idle age + Neuroticism often disappears or is much less apparent in late life + Suggest that personality takes on two forms: adjustment and growth + Personality Adjustment:*** - Developmental changes in terms of their adaptive value and functionality, such as functioning effectively within society, and how personality contributes to everyday life running smoothly + Personality Growth:*** - Ideal end states. Such as increased self transcendence, wisdom, and integrity + Growth cannot occur without adjustment + Stability and change in the big five: - With increasing age there is absence of neuroticism and presence of agreeableness and conscientiousness - These are associated with adjustment. Allowing older adults to maintain and regain levels of well being in the face of loss, threats and challenges - Also decrease in openness to new experiences with increasing age - related to personal maturity - Personal growth in adulthood appears to be rare rather than normative + The most likely answer is personality growth or change across adulthood does not normally occur unless there are special circumstances and with an environmental push for it to occur

Is there such a thing as a "midlife crisis"?

+ Some theories focus on transitions and assume that we experience periods of stability that are punctuated by periods of change and conflict. One period of change is the midlife crisis (MLC). + Midlife crisis is not real if you base it solely on stereotypes. Older men buy the Porsche because they can finally afford to, not because of crisis. + Most research has failed to support the idea. + Some have argued that the stereotype is the result of the media. Who knows? Perhaps a newspaper editor was jealous of his slightly older neighbor's nice new car.

Describe Erikson's theory of psychosocial development.

+ We go through different stages as we develop. + Each stage is characterized by a psychosocial crisis. + How our personality develops depends on how we deal with each of these crises. + So, all are important to understanding personality in old age, but the crises that are addressed by middle-aged adults and older adults are: - Generativity versus stagnation: Are we being useful to society? Are we sharing and contributing? If not, we are stagnate. - Integrity versus despair: Reflect on accomplishments and experiences and ask, has my life been meaningful? ** Personal observations of Eriskson's (and Loevinger's) theories. + His theory is not necessarily applicable to different cultures, and more research definitely needs to be done to evaluate its validity. Too fluffy (speculative and anecdotal)? + It seems kind of problematic and perhaps even unscientific to me to suggest that the evolution of a person's personality is guided by universal goals. - Goals are determined in part by morals and values, and we definitely do not all share the same morals and values.

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- Conscientious appears to peak in middle age. - most interestingly, neuroticism often disappears or is much less apparent in late life. - such changes are found in studies that examine larger populations across a larger range (e.g. 16 to mid 80's) and greater geographical regions (e.g. United states to Great Britain)

Integrity vs. Despair

- Growing awareness of the nearness of the end of life, but it is actually completed by only a small number of people - Older adults try to understand their lives in terms of the future of their family and community - Thoughts of a persons own death are balanced by the realization they live on through children, grandchildren etc. - To have integrity, the person must come to terms with the choices and events that made their life unique - Acceptance that ones life is drawing to a close

Generativity vs. Stagnation

- Struggle between feelings that people must maintain and perpetuate society, and a sense of feeling self-absorbent - If generativity is accepted, the development of trust in the next generation is facilitated

Karen Hooker added 2 processes that act in tandem with ^:

1) State Processes - Act with dispositional traits - Crease transient, short-term changes in emotion, mood, hunger, anxiety etc. 2) Personal Concerns - Act with self regulatory processes - Include primary and secondary control 3) Cognitive Processes - Act with life narratives - Create natural interaction that occur between a storyteller and listener, processes central in organizing life stories

The case for stability - The Five-Factor Model:

Consists of five independent dimensions of personality: Neuroticism - high scorers tend to be nervous, high-strung, insecure, worrying; low scorers tend to be calm, relaxed, secure, hardy) Extraversion - high scorers tend to be sociable, friendly, fun loving, talkative; low scorers tend to be introverted, reserved, inhibited, quiet) Openness to experience - high scorers tend to be original, creative, curious, complex; low scorers tend to be conventional Agreeableness - high scorers tend to be good natured, sympathetic, forgiving, courteous; low scorers tend to be critical, rude, harsh, callous Conscientiousness - high scorers tend to be reliable, well-organized, self-disciplined, careful; low scorers tend to be disorganized, undependable, negligent

Jung's Theory

One of the first theorists to believe in personality development in adulthood, Freudians thought it stopped in adolescence Emphasizes each aspect of a persons personality must be in balance with all the others This means each part of the personality will be expressed in some way, whether through normal means, neurotic symptoms, or in dreams Jung asserts the parts of the personality are organized in such a way as to produce two basic orientations of the ego - One is concerned with the external work; Jung labels it extraversion - The inner world of subjective experiences - labeled introversion - Individuals must deal with the external world effectively and also be able to evaluate their inner feelings and values - When people emphasise one orientation over the other, they are classified as extraverts or introverts Jung advocates two important age-related trends in personality development 1) Relates to introversion-extraversion distinction o Young adults re more extraverted than older, perhaps because they need to find a mate, a career etc. o With increasing age, the need for balance creates a need to focus inward and explore personal feelings about aging and mortality, thus comes with increase introversion 2) Involves the feminine and masculine aspects of our personalities o Each of us has elements of both masculinity and femininity o In young adulthood most of us express only one while working to suppress the other o As they grow older, people begin to let out the suppressed parts of their personality o Allows people to deal more effectively with their individual needs than ones defined socially

McAdams described 3 parallel levels of personality structure and function: What is personality?

Personality is an individual's typical pattern of behavior and thought that is relatively stable across time and situations. 1) Dispositional Traits - What people usually think of; Consist of aspects of personality consistent across different contexts and can be compared across a group along a continuum representing high and low degrees of the characteristic (e.g. shyness, gregariousness, etc.) - The level of personality most people think of first, and include commonly used descriptors like shy, talkative, 2) Personal Concerns what does a person think about often regarding goals, worries, etc.? this changes with life stage (e.g. retirement) a person is in - Consist of things important to people, their goals, and their major concerns in life - Usually described in motivational, developmental or strategic terms; they reflect the stage of life a person is in 3) Life Narrative - A person's identity as created by a combination of factors like past experiences. - Consist of the aspects of personality pulling everything together, those integrative aspects that give a person an identity or sense of self - The creation of ones identity is the goal of this level

Temperament & Character Inventory

Research questions:*** Can we replicate Cloninger's TCI model? What are the implications with regard to group comparisons or examining TCI over time? Since the TCI has been used in 1000s of studies it should work, right?

Self-Concept and Well Being

Self Concept: the organized, coherent, integrated pattern of self perceptions; how we view ouselves. what we think we are? + There isn't much inter-individual change. - Mortimer et al. (1982): They identified several elements of SC (much like C&M's traits), and these did not seem to differ over the years. - However, within a person, SC will change based on experiences. ***Imaging how your SC would change if you consistently failed at something. - Includes notions of self esteem and self image

Well-being and emotion

Subjective Well Being: - An evolution of ones life associated with positive feelings - Assessed by measures of life satisfaction, happiness and self esteem Young-older are characterized by improved subjective well being compared to earlier in adulthood Age related changes in how the amygdala functions may play a role in understanding emotional regulation in older adults - Amygdala and emotional arousal are lower in older adults - Experience less negative emotion, lower rates of depression and better well being Changes in cognitive processing in prefrontal cortex also associated with emotional regulation in older adults Possible Selves:*** Represent what we could become, what we would like to become, and what we are afraid of becoming + What we could become, what we don't want to become, and what we do want to become. + Whether we see change depends on the question asked. - All adults focus on physical health to some extent. + Although OAs view themselves as declining (in contrast to YAs), they also view their pasts more favorably and believe that they are closer to being the person that they want to be than YAs. - They are motivators, how we behave is largely an effort to achieve or avoid these possible selves and protect the current view of the self Hoped for selves - Young adults listed family concerns - Adults in 30s listed family concerns last; main issue was personal - By 40-50 family issues were most common again - Over 60, personal issues most prominent; especially health

Personality

What it is and what it isn't: When you think of "personality" what comes to mind? How is it measured and are they really measuring "whatever it is" properly... Assorted personality tests and links

Character summary:

Character factors could be improved through modification Little evidence for higher-order Character factor The Character model is different for men and women