Lifespan personality development: Self-organising goal-oriented agents and developmental outcome

Abstract

Several historical trends are enumerated that preceded contemporary discussions concerning the development of personality dimensions, personality types, and the person as a self-organising goal-oriented agent. For description of personality across the life course, the big-five personality dimensions are related to similar dimensions in temperament. For a proper understanding of the person as an active agent in personality development, a model for personality functioning is proposed that integrates elements of descriptive research on personality and temperament with theoretical views on personality and temperament functioning, that is, Block and Block’s (1980) views on the curvilinear relation between ego-control and ego-resiliency and Rothbart’s (1989) ideas on the distinction between reactivity and self-regulation. Typological personality studies are related to this model for personality functioning. Finally, personality development across the life course is related to the development of four developmental domains (i.e., interpersonal, achievement, self-concept, and creative domains).

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