CHAPTER 4 The Search for Growth or Decline in Personality 58
Cross-Sectional Studies of Personality Differences 59
Sampling Bias 62
Cohort Effects 64
Longitudinal Designs: Tracking Changes over Time 66
Stability in the 16PF 67
Sequential Strategies: Avoiding Practice
and Time Effects 70
An Integrated Approach 74Recent Developments 78
Small, Slow Changes 78
Another Mystery 80A Different Analysis 80
Implications: Debunking Some Myths of Aging 81
CHAPTER 5 Cross-Cultural Perspectives on Personality
and Aging84
A Universal Structure 86
Adult Development across Cultures 90
History, Culture, and Cross-Sectional Comparisons 92
Some Possible Interpretations 94Cross-Cultural Evidence on Stability 96
CHAPTER 6 The Course of Personality Development
in the Individual98
T wo Different Questions: Stability and Change in Groups
and in Individuals 98
Developmental Patterns in Individuals 101
Investigating the Course of Personality Traits 106
Longitudinal Evidence 108
The Time Course of Stability 112
CHAPTER 7 Stability Reconsidered:
Qualifications and Rival Hypotheses116
Methodological Issues in the Assessment
of Stability 116
The Self-Concept and Stability 119
Accounting for Variance and Correcting
for Unreliability 122
Retrospection and Self-Perceived Change 124x Contents