Traditionally, theories of personality and adult development were concerned with predicting the changes that personality
would necessarily undergo during the aging process. During the 1970s, and continuing to the present day, several major longitudinal studiest the authors' among them provided for the first time a scientific basis for evaluating these assumptions concerning personality change. To the initial surprise of many, those findings revealed an extraordinary degree of stability: personality apparently changes little in most people after the age of 30.

In this volume a thoroughgoing revision of the authors' earlier book, Emerging Lives, Enduring Dispositions, noted researchers Robert McCrae and Paul Costa reverse the classic question and ask instead how enduring dispositions affect the processes of aging and shape the individual's life course. By utilizing the Five-Factor Model, which represents a dramatic advance since the earlier book was published, this book accommodates virtually all traits identified in common speech and in scientific theories of personality. By studying these five factors across the life span, one can present a virtually complete account of what happens to personality as men and women age.

Using all available empirical data to substantiate a stability model of personality, the book:

* Critically reviews theories of personality and adult
development
* Explains the logic behind the scientific assessment of
personality
* Analyzes the separation of age-related changes form birth
cohort differences and other artifacts
* Examines cross-sectional and longitudinal studies of age and
personality
* Considers alternative explanations for the findings of
stability
* Points to new research directions

The work was written for advanced undergraduates, graduate students, and professionals who wish an introduction to the topic. It is ideal as a supplementary text in a variety of courses, including adult or life-span development, personality theory and research, and personality development. For basic and clinical psychologists, it is the best introduction available to the Five-Factor Model of Personality.