Individuals feel lonely when they perceive a discrepancy between their desired and their actually experienced quantity and quality of social relationships. Prior research has demonstrated the importance of loneliness for various health-related aspects. In the present article, we extend the existing literature on loneliness by investigating its…

How do the goals we once cherished but can no longer pursue relate to maturity? The authors asked adults who have experienced challenging life transitions to describe the life goals they once sought but no longer do and those goals that motivate their lives now. The authors conducted research which examines how adults' views of their lost and…

Interviewed 301 grandparents concerning their relationship with one grandchild. Findings revealed no differences in relationship associated with grandchild gender or with maternal/paternal grandparent status; nor were there significant interaction effects. Grandmothers expressed greater satisfaction than did grandfathers; grandfathers stressed…

Research conducted on the same women at age 30 and at age 70 indicated relative stability in all cognitive, most personality, and several personality-social variables measured over the 40-year interval. (Author/DB)

Reviews concepts of meaning making in classical and contemporary writing. Examines models of cognitive and ego development linked with meaning making and draws a model of the relationship of meaning making to adult learning and development. (SK)

Reviews the theoretical assumptions of Kohlberg's cognitive-development analysis of moral reasoning; discusses the construction of moral education programs along Kohlberg's principles; and emphasizes the psychological processes which account for the growth of moral reasoning during adulthood. (Author/AYC)

Discusses Erickson's and Maslow's empirically based formulations of healthy development. Through integration of their systems, six trends are derived: survival, growth, communication, recognition, mastery, and understanding. Trends relate to self-functions, interpersonal functioning, and task performance. Relates trends to three aspects of…

A partial sequential design was used to study personality development over a 10-year-period. Data on the Inventory of Psychosocial Development were collected from: a sample of college students in 1966; the same sample as alumni in 1976; and a sample of undergraduates in 1976. (JMB)

Recent research in adult personality and social development suggests that adults experience predictable transitional and stable periods. The implications for counseling psychologists' work with adult clients are discussed. Counseling psychologists are encouraged to adopt a more positive view of roles that crises play in adult personality and…

Examined the marriage relationship in relation to the personality of the partners and the context within which the relationship exists. Results indicated that both the amount of love expressed and the amount of marriage problems declined from the first stages of marriage to the last. (Author/RC)

Discusses adult individuality and the need to recognize and consider individual differences in adult education. States that the effects of differences experienced over time determine adult value systems. Presents data from author's dissertation study to show one group's value ranges and how no one person can represent the composite data. (MF)

Described the adult development of 23 police officers. Found that subjects passed through a series of psychosocial stages and that stress and stress management were an important part of this process. Training and administrative implications are discussed. (JAC)

Examines earlier conceptualizations of successful aging and calls for a reformulation that is more responsive to developmental processes and theoretical guidance. Discusses issues of operational definitions, selective sampling, and stage theory. The perspective is illustrated with empirical research in the personality realm. (Author)

Discusses semantic issues in defining emotions. Describes important constructs derived from major theories of emotionality. Examines social-psychological and biological changes associated with aging in the context of these theories. Reviews available data on emotionality and aging, describing experimental attempts at manipulating the emotional…

Described stability and change in the developing teacher's personality from college entrance to established professional status. Freshmen (N=32) who took the Omnibus Personality Inventory were tested 10 years later. Changes were reported on 8 of the 14 OPI scales, indicating improved emotional maturity, psychological adjustment, and self-esteem.…