Paths to Successful Development
Personality in the Life Course

This important new book explores the relationship between personality and development from a life-course perspective.

Lea Pulkkinen (Edited by), Avshalom Caspi (Edited by)

9780521804837, Cambridge University Press

Paperback, published 4 April 2002

436 pages, 25 tables
22.9 x 15.2 x 2.5 cm, 0.64 kg

'The merits of the volume lie in the range of approaches covered, the different longitudinal studies encompassed from Europe, US and New Zealand, the strong emphasis placed on social factors but also encapsulating psychological, physiological and historical change. In an era where personality investigation has become a 'gene hunt' it is refreshing to see openly social explanations for human behaviour and development.' Psychological Medicine

The influence of the lifespan approach has been an important feature of recent research in developmental psychology, as has a growing interest in the relationship between personality and development. This important new book, edited by two distinguished psychologists, explores the relationship between personality and development from a life-course perspective. The book presents current theoretical approaches and new empirical findings from ongoing studies conducted by leading researchers in North America and Europe. It is unique in focussing on successful personality development, where developmental psychology in the past seems to have focussed almost entirely on problem behaviour and risk of maladaption. The book has a multidisciplinary appeal and will be of interest to students and researchers in the fields of developmental psychology, adult development and aging, and personality and social psychology.

Personality and paths to successful development: an overview Lea Pulkkinen and Avshalom Caspi
Part I. Temperament and Emotion Regulation: 1. Temperament and socialization Mary K. Rothbart and Samuel P. Putnam
2. The role of emotionality and regulation in children's social competence and adjustment Nancy Eisenberg, Richard A. Fabes, Ivanna K. Guthrie and Mark Reiser
Part II. Formation of Social Relationships: 3. Attachment relationships and appraisal of partnership: from early experience of sensitive support to later relationship representation Klaus E. Grossmann, Karin Grossmann, Monika Winter and Peter Zimmermann
4. How do adolescents select their friends? a behaviour genetic perspective Richard J. Rose
Part III. Continuity in Individual Life Paths: 5. Personality types in childhood and adolescence: main effects and person-relationship transactions Marcel A. G. van Aken, Cornelis F. M. van Lieshout, Ron H. J. Scholte and Gerbert J. T. Haselager
6. The influence of early behaviour patterns on later life Glen H. Elder, Jr. and Robert Crosnoe
7. Studying processes: some methodological considerations Lars Bergman
Part IV. Environmental Contributions to Personality Development: 8. The role of ethnic identity in personality development Brett Laursen and Vicki Williams
9. Time and change: psychosocial transition in German adults 1991 and 1996 Rainer K. Silbereisen, Matthias Reitzle and Linda Juang
Part V. Life Transitions: 10. Developmental regulation of life-course transitions: a control theory approach Jutta Heckhausen
11. Social selection, social causation, and developmental pathways: empirical strategies for better understanding how individuals and environments are linked across the life course Avshalom Caspi
12. Pathways through challenge: implications for well-being and health Carol D. Ryff, Burton H. Singer and Marsha Mailick Seltzer
Part VI. Personal Goals and Well-Being: 13. Individual differences in personal goals in mid-thirties Lea Pulkkinen, Jari-Erik Nurmi and Katja Kokko
14. Social Production Function (SPF) theory as an heuristic for understanding developmental trajectories and outcomes Johan Ormel
15. Searching for paths to successful development and ageing: integrating developmental and action-theoretical perspectives Jochen Brandstädter.

Subject Areas: Child & developmental psychology [JMC]