the adequacy of a trait theory of personality , and the advantages and
dangers of interviews as a source of data on personality . At each step wewill try to weigh the evidence carefully , taking into account bothstrengths and limitations. We can state our point of view in a few para -
graphs, but a critical examination of it will require the whole book.
Over the past 20 years there have been remarkable changes in the
science of personality . Trait psychology , often considered passé in the1970s, has come back with a vengeance and is now the dominant para -
digm in personality psychology . We know much more about the origins
and influences of traits than we did—a new understanding that hasbeen deeply intertwined with our discoveries about lifespan develop -
ment. Perhaps most crucially , we now know the scope of personal -
ity traits. The Five-Factor Model (FFM; Digman, 1990; McCrae &
John, 1992) has been widely accepted as an adequate taxonomy ofpersonality traits, and literature reviews are now routinely organizedby classifying measures along the lines of these five factors. These fac-tors—Neuroticism, Extraversion, Openness, Agreeableness, and Con-scientiousness—recur throughout this book; they are the basic disposi-tions that, as we will see, endure through adulthood and help to shapeemerging lives. The factors and some representative traits that definethem are listed in Table 1.
The Pendulum of Opinion on Personality Stability
When psychologists first asked themselves what happens to personalityacross the lifespan, they found a great deal to say about infancy , child -
hood, and adolescence. Most assumed, however, that adulthood was the
endpoint of personality development (an adult , the dictionary tells us, is
a fully developed individual). William James (1890), in a now famousdictum, claimed that by age 30 character was “set like plaster.” SigmundFreud wrote volumes on the first few years of life but almost nothing onthe later years; certainly they held no major role in his theory of person -
ality . The parallel to other forms of development seemed obvious: By
age 20 the vast majority of men and women have reached their fullheight, and—although they may settle a bit over the years—the tall re -
main tall, the short, short. The same seems to be true for certain kinds
of intelligence. Why should we expect anything different in the case ofemotionality or warmth or modesty?
It was therefore a feat of great intellectual daring to propose thatFacts and Theories of Adult Development 3