Developmental Tasks as a Framework to Study Personality Development in Adulthood and Old Age

被引:185
作者
Hutteman, Roos [1 ,2 ]
Hennecke, Marie [3 ]
Orth, Ulrich [4 ]
Reitz, Anne K. [5 ,6 ]
Specht, Jule [7 ]
机构
[1] Univ Munster, D-48149 Munster, Germany
[2] Univ Utrecht, NL-3508 TC Utrecht, Netherlands
[3] Univ Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland
[4] Univ Bern, Bern, Switzerland
[5] Humboldt Univ, D-10099 Berlin, Germany
[6] Columbia Univ, New York, NY USA
[7] Free Univ Berlin, Berlin, Germany
关键词
personality development; developmental tasks; adulthood; old age; RANK-ORDER STABILITY; SOCIAL-INVESTMENT; MEAN-LEVEL; CHILDHOOD PERSONALITY; LIFE SATISFACTION; COPING RESOURCES; TRAITS; YOUNG; TRANSITION; RETIREMENT;
D O I
10.1002/per.1959
中图分类号
B84 [心理学];
学科分类号
04 ; 0402 ;
摘要
Research consistently shows that personality development is a lifelong phenomenon, with mean-level and rank-order changes occurring in all life phases. What happens during specific life phases that can explain these developmental patterns? In the present paper, we review literature linking personality development in different phases of adulthood to developmental tasks associated with these phases. Building on previous work, we describe several categories of developmental tasks that are present in all phases of adulthood. However, the specific tasks within these categories change across adulthood from establishing new social roles in early adulthood to maintaining them in middle adulthood and preventing losses in old age. This trajectory is reflected in mean-level changes in personality, which indicates development towards greater maturity (increases in social dominance, conscientiousness, and emotional stability) in early and middle adulthood, but less so at the end of life. Importantly, developmental tasks are not only associated with mean-level changes, but the way in which people deal with these tasks is also related to rank-order changes in personality. We provide an outlook for future research on how the influence of historical time on the normativeness of developmental tasks might be reflected in personality development. Copyright (C) 2014 European Association of Personality Psychology
引用
收藏
页码:267 / 278
页数:12
相关论文
共 86 条
[1]   Attachment style and coping resources as predictors of coping strategies in the transition to parenthood [J].
Alexander, R ;
Feeney, J ;
Hohaus, L ;
Noller, P .
PERSONAL RELATIONSHIPS, 2001, 8 (02) :137-152
[2]   NEUROTICISM AND CYNICISM AND RISK OF DEATH IN MIDDLE-AGED MEN - THE WESTERN ELECTRIC STUDY [J].
ALMADA, SJ ;
ZONDERMAN, AB ;
SHEKELLE, RB ;
DYER, AR ;
DAVIGLUS, ML ;
COSTA, PT ;
STAMLER, J .
PSYCHOSOMATIC MEDICINE, 1991, 53 (02) :165-175
[3]   Personality Factors in the Long Life Family Study [J].
Andersen, Stacy L. ;
Sun, Jenny X. ;
Sebastiani, Paola ;
Huntly, Jaimie ;
Gass, Jesse D. ;
Feldman, Lori ;
Bae, Harold ;
Christiansen, Lene ;
Perls, Thomas T. .
JOURNALS OF GERONTOLOGY SERIES B-PSYCHOLOGICAL SCIENCES AND SOCIAL SCIENCES, 2013, 68 (05) :739-749
[4]  
[Anonymous], 1984, On the nature of human plasticity
[5]   Still stable after all these years? Personality stability theory revisited [J].
Ardelt, M .
SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY QUARTERLY, 2000, 63 (04) :392-405
[6]  
Arnett JJ, 2000, AM PSYCHOL, V55, P469
[7]   Death and cognition -: Synthesis and outlook [J].
Backman, Lars ;
MacDonald, Stuart W. S. .
EUROPEAN PSYCHOLOGIST, 2006, 11 (03) :224-235
[8]  
Baltes P. B., 1998, Handbook of child psychology, P1029, DOI 10.1002/9780470147658.chpsy0111
[10]  
Belsky J., 1986, MED ASPECTS HUMAN SE, V20, P56