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…

This paper examines the concept of identity from philosophical, personal, and territorial perspectives. In the first section an historical perspective on identity is explored through the writings of Plato, Dupius, Josephus, and Thut. Twentieth century models of identity are related to the concepts of these writers of ancient Greece. In the second…

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…

THE RELATIONSHIP OF EGO-STAGE DEVELOPMENT (BASED UPON THE THEORIES OF ERIK ERICKSON) TO THE EXPERIENCES ADULTS IDENTIFIED AS LEADING TO RE-CREATION WAS EXPLORED, USING DATA OBTAINED FROM 73 WOMEN SELECTED AT RANDOM FOR A POPULATION OF 582 AMERICAN AND CANADIAN WOMEN GRADUATE STUDENTS AT THE UNIVERSITY OF WISCONSIN IN FALL, 1964. INFORMATION…

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)

This study explores the relationship of ego-stage development (based on the theories of Erik Erikson and roughly defined as psychological maturity) to experiences which a group of adults identified as leading to re-creation for them. The author believes that re-creation -- defined as a feeling of heightened well-being or a sense of renewal and…

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)

Adulthood for females is a complex maturational process, rooted in the mother-daughter relationship. To investigate the dynamics of the mother-daughter relationship and its influence on maturing, 20 women, ranging in age from 30 to 75, were interviewed for 6 to 8 hours over a 1-month period. The subjects were chosen for their self-reflective…

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…