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PS 277 – Lecture 10/11 – Chapter 10

PS 277 – Lecture 10/11 – Chapter 10. Personality Development in Adulthood and the Life Story. Outline. McAdams’ theory of personality Traits and adult development Personal concerns and adulthood – Erikson’s stages and generativity The life story and identity – methods and findings.

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PS 277 – Lecture 10/11 – Chapter 10

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  1. PS 277 – Lecture 10/11 – Chapter 10 • Personality Development in Adulthood and the Life Story

  2. Outline • McAdams’ theory of personality • Traits and adult development • Personal concerns and adulthood – Erikson’s stages and generativity • The life story and identity – methods and findings

  3. Dan McAdams

  4. I. McAdams’ Three-Part Model of Personality • Traits and dispositions – Big Five, common, “outside observer” knowledge (e.g., extroversion) • Characteristic adaptations - Goals, motives, personal projects – somewhat inside/still not unique (e.g., trying to be a good mother) • The life story – unique, personal, the “insider’s” view • Think about it: Which elements of personality are more determined by nature or nurture?

  5. McAdams Model of Personality (McAdams & Pals, 2006)

  6. II. Dispositional Traits and Adult Development (the Big Five) • Costa & McCrae’s work on the Big Five: • Neuroticism = average stability .50 • Extroversion = stability .54 • Openness = stability .51 • Agreeableness = stability .54 • Conscientiousness = stability .51

  7. Stability of Traits across the Lifespan (Roberts & del Vecchio, 2000)

  8. Sources of Trait Stability vs. Change • Sources of stability in midlife and later: • Heritability of traits is moderate in twin studies • Environmental stability in midlife: job, family, etc. • Identity stability in adulthood

  9. III. Personal Concerns and Aging • Focus on goals, plans, projects, etc. • Erikson’s model of adult life stages and changes in broad personal concerns • Generativity and its relations to identity, intimacy and ego integrity

  10. Erikson’s Stages in Adulthood – vs. Freud

  11. Key Epigenetic Principles in Erikson • “Each (component) comes to its ascendance, meets its crisis, and finds its lasting resolution toward the end of the stages mentioned” (Erikson, Identity: Youth and Crisis, p. 95) • Ascendance = person becomes “ready” for these crises (biological/developmental) • Crisis = environment feels ready to convey its particular way of contributing to his character, efficiency and strength of vitality • Lasting resolution = each stage demands some balance of component, influences from previous stage, forward onto future stage

  12. Generativity as a Project and Its Developmental Context in Midlife • Caring for next generation as a legacy of self • Teaching, mentoring, supporting and helping others • Requires ability to invest in the needs of others (intimacy) • Recognize the limitations of self and need to deal with mortality • Parenting and caring for youth as a way of doing this – can be important across the life course

  13. Darwin’s Generativity at 50 • Wallace’s paper on natural selection, sent to Darwin in 1856 • Difficult issue for Darwin, but he ultimately supported its publication • Friends convinced him to publish it with his own work at same time

  14. Generative Themes in the Life Story – Teaching as an Example • 70-year-old woman’s story to teach honesty: “I was a mediocre student and I used to hate geometry. One time we were given this homework assignment to do and I couldn’t, and so I took one of the books from a girl who had handed hers in and copied it into my book. But the teacher, who was a real battleaxe, found out. So I was really scared, but the teacher sat down and had a good talk with me, and from that moment on, I realized she wasn’t so horrible, and she really helped me a lot. I was scared out of my wits, but as soon as I’d managed to explain what happened I felt as if a heavy burden had been lifted…And so I told this story to my daughter who was having problems in another subject, and she did this exact same thing. And I was able to help her realize it was the wrong thing to do with my own example because I’d done it myself.”

  15. Generativity and Its Relations to Other Stages • McAdams’ “generative identity” • Intimacy Generativity • Generativity Ego Integrity • Lifespan Developmental Context

  16. IV. The Life Story and Identity (McAdams’ Theory) • Life story is our way of telling others and ourselves who we are = defines our adult sense of identity • Selected autobiographical memories from the past and ideas and plans about the future • Constantly revised and reworked as our perspectives on ourselves change and grow • Draws on cultural types of narratives to construct personal story – so life story can vary by culture, for example

  17. McAdams’ Life Story Measurement Techniques • Peak Experience • Low Point • Earliest Memory • Turning Point • Significant Childhood Memory • Significant Adolescent Memory • Significant Adult Memory • Future Scene

  18. Try it yourself • Think of a peak experience • Describe what happened, who was involved, what you were thinking and feeling, what this scene says about who you were, are or might be.

  19. Underpinnings of the Life Story – Key Elements in Its Development (McAdams) • Basic intentionality and theory of mind in young child • Personal experiences and reminiscing in family as sources of storytelling skill • Learning of culturally specific story structure/scripts by child • Making stories coherent – adolescent cognitive capacities for causal and thematic reasoning help to explain experiences • The life review: considering the life story and its outcomes in later life (ego integrity issues of Erikson)

  20. Personality Model: Interactions of the Life Story and Dispositional Traits (McAdams et al., 2004) • Openness to experience was Big Five trait that most clearly predicted story-telling style in this study • How would you think it might relate?

  21. The Life Story and Personal Concerns – Feelings of Personal Control (Braun, Schiffman, 1982)

  22. Ego Integrity and the Life Review (Wong and Watt, 1991) • Butler argued that rehearsing and reviewing one’s life (and life story) is important to last phase in Erikson theory – older adults often do this – a narrative function • Part of a somewhat more “inner focus” on the self – but just doing a life review isn’t always beneficial • Wong & Watt found that certain types of review are associated with positive sense of “ego integrity”, especially integrative and instrumental stories that put together long-term goals and plans and current issues • In contrast, “obsessive” reviews of past negative events, guilt, ruminations are negatively associated with feelings of ego integrity

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