functioning of other traits. Test anxiety , for example, may lead to poor
performance despite high intelligence.
If these speculations are correct, we do not need to introduce new
traits to explain differences in ego organization or the resulting differ -
ences in the life structure. Instead, we must recognize that in order to
describe fully the significance of a trait, we must not only specify thebehaviors and feelings associated with it but also identify the effects thetrait has on the operation of other traits.
The other side of this interpretation is that in inferring traits we
ought to look not simply at specific behaviors but at the whole patternof the individual’s life. And this is precisely what we advocated in Chap -
ter 2 as the best basis for assessing traits.
DEVELOPMENTAL CHANGES IN EGO PROCESSES
If the essence of personality is the organization and integration of expe-
rience and behavior, the most important question about age and person-ality would be what happens to the major ego functions with age. It is inthis context, perhaps, that the issue of growth or decline in personalitymakes most sense. After all, what do we mean by growth in personality?It is easy to see that becoming taller or more intelligent is growth, buthow does personality grow? Although we assumed in Chapter 4 thatany change in the average level of a trait could be interpreted as eithergrowth or decline, in fact it would have been difficult to interpret an in -
crease in introversion or Openness to aesthetic experiences in these
terms. Not all changes represent growth or decline.
But we could probably make a good case for the contention that
there is a natural direction of growth in ego functioning. Loevinger sug -
gests as much in her developmental stages, as does Erikson (1950) in
his stages of psychosocial development. Many other writers have alsoproposed criteria of psychological maturity that could properly be seenas growth in personality and would generally be considered attributes ofego functioning. Bühler and colleagues mention formulation of a stableidentity , willingness to assume responsibility , ability to form significantand lasting attachments to others, self-acceptance, emotional security ,and commitment to goals (Bühler, Keith-Spiegel, & Thomas, 1973).
Most of us would agree that these are signs of maturity , and we
would probably suspect that adults possess more of them than do ado -Ego Psychologies and Projective Methods 149