that some individuals have increased and others decreased. It would be
informative to consider whether the increasers share some common ex -
perience: Perhaps they all got married or lost their jobs. Such findings
might lead to a theory of the causes of personality change.
Aldwin, Spiro, Levenson, and Cupertino (2001) used such an anal -
ysis on reports of psychological symptoms (akin to Neuroticism) in the
Normative Aging Study (the same sample we had studied 20 years ear -
lier). Each of 1,515 men had been measured on an average of six occa -
sions spanning up to 25 years. When the overall pattern was examined,
“the predicted number of psychological symptoms did not change withage.” But when individual curves were examined, subgroups of mencould be discerned. By far the largest group (about 75%) consisted ofmen who had few symptoms to begin with and stayed that way . Threesmaller groups consisted of people who started with a moderate level ofsymptoms. Some declined a bit in midlife, then increased again; someincreased until age 65, then began to decline; some peaked in the 40s, apattern the authors likened to a midlife crisis.
These are intriguing findings, well worth replicating. One caution
is needed however: The statistical techniques used piece together acurve from age 35 to age 75, a span of 40 years. Yet the average subjecthad been followed only for 19 years, and none had been followed formore than 25 years. Whether individuals will actually continue on theirprojected trajectory remains to be seen.
IMPLICATIONS: DEBUNKING SOME MYTHS OF AGING
Complexities and subtleties aside, the take-home message of this chap -
ter is that, after age 30, the mean levels of personality traits change lit -
tle. What does the evidence of stability in personality mean for our view
of aging? For some reason, when we say we find no evidence of growthor decline in personality , people hear only “no growth” and regard us asthe bearers of bad news. But there is good news here, too. Perhaps it isunfortunate that people do not continue to grow and develop in adult -
hood, but surely it is reassuring to find that they do not deteriorate. In
view of popular and prevalent conceptions of aging, this is by far themore important implication.
In the past few years socially conscious individuals have attempted
to create positive stereotypes of aging, reminding us that the aged areGrowth or Decline in Personality 81