Personality in adulthood : a five-factor theory perspective,2nd ed

C H A P T E R 1 Facts and Theories of Adult Development 1 The Pendulum of Opinion on Personality Stability 3 In Search of a Phenomenon 6 A Note on Psychotherapy 9 When Does Adulthood Begin? 10 Other Views: Theories of Change 11 C H A P T E R 2 A Trait Approach to Personality 2 0 Perspectives on Human Nature 21 Basic Principles of Trait Psychology 24 How Many Traits? Which Ones? 29 The Quest for a Unified System 32 Natural Languages and the Five-Factor Model 34 C H A P T E R 3 Measuring Personality 3 7 From Concepts to Data 37 Self-Reports and Observer Ratings 40 A Questionnaire Measure: The NEO Personality Inventory 45 Facets of N, E, and O 47 Facets of A and C 50 Making Distinctions 51 The Comprehensiveness of the Five-Factor Model 52 ix C H A P T E R 4 The Search for Growth or Decline in Personality 5 8 Cross-Sectional Studies of Personality Differences 59 Sampling Bias 62 Cohort Effects 64 Longitudinal Designs: Tracking Changes over Time 66 Stability in the 16PF 67 Sequential Strategies: Avoiding Practice and Time Effects 70 An Integrated Approach 74 Recent Developments 78 Small, Slow Changes 78 Another Mystery 80 A Different Analysis 80 Implications: Debunking Some Myths of Aging 81 C H A P T E R 5 Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Personality and Aging 8 4 A Universal Structure 86 Adult Development across Cultures 90 History, Culture, and Cross-Sectional Comparisons 92 Some Possible Interpretations 94 Cross-Cultural Evidence on Stability 96 C H A P T E R 6 The Course of Personality Development in the Individual 9 8 Two Different Questions: Stability and Change in Groups and in Individuals 98 Developmental Patterns in Individuals 101 Investigating the Course of Personality Traits 106 Longitudinal Evidence 108 The Time Course of Stability 112 C H A P T E R 7 Stability Reconsidered: Qualifications and Rival Hypotheses 1 1 6 Methodological Issues in the Assessment of Stability 116 The Self-Concept and Stability 119 Accounting for Variance and Correcting for Unreliability 122 Retrospection and Self-Perceived Change 124 x Contents Moderators of Change 128 Psychological Characteristics 128 Life Events 130 Physical and Mental Health 131 Case Studies in Stability 133 Implications: Planning for the Future 137 C H A P T E R 8 A Different View: Ego Psychologies and Projective Methods 1 3 9 Dynamic or Ego Psychologies 140 Developmental Sequences 141 Dynamic Dispositions 143 Contrasting Traits with Ego Processes 144 Conflict and Its Resolution 144 Temporal Organization 146 Individual Differences in Ego Processes 146 Traits and Metatraits? 148 Developmental Changes in Ego Processes 149 Projective Assessments of Personality 151 Problems in Projective Methods 153 Conscious versus Unconscious Elements 155 Projective Testing and the Stability of Personality 156 Inkblot Tests 157 TAT Studies 158 Age and the Spontaneous Self-Concept 161 C H A P T E R 9 Adult Development as Seen through the Personal Interview 1 6 4 Form and Content in Psychological Interviews 168 Interview-Based Theories of Adult Development 169 Levinson’s Seasons 170 Gould’s Transformations 175 In Search of the Midlife Crisis 178 C H A P T E R 1 0 A Five-Factor Theory of Personality 1 8 4 The Birth of a Theory 185 Five-Factor Theory 187 Components of the Personality System 187 Postulates of FFT: How the System Works 189 Contents xi The Origins of Traits 193 Trait Development and the FFT 197 Changes in Individual Differences 199 Evaluating Five-Factor Theory 200 C H A P T E R 1 1 The Influences of Personality on the Life Course 2 0 6 What Changes? 207 The Objective Biography 208 Characteristic Adaptations 209 The Self-Concept 214 Studying Life Structure and Life Course 216 Psychological Adjustment across the Lifespan 218 Personal Projects, Social Clocks, and Psychobiography 220 Marriage and Divorce 224 Careers 225 Trait Influences on the Self-Concept 227 Identity 228 The Life Narrative 231 R E F E R E N C E S 2 3 7 I N D E X 2 6 1