The mentor relationship can significantly enhance development in early adulthood and also in the midcareer stage of the more experienced individual. A conceptual model derived from an intensive bio...

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/255910.pdf

Phases of the mentor relationship.

A field experiment was conducted to assess the effects of enhanced personal responsibility and choice on a group of nursing home residents. It was expected that the debilitated condition of many of the aged residing in institutional settings is, at least in part, a result of living in a virtually decision-free environment and consequently is potentially reversible. Residents who were in the experimental group were given a communication emphasizing their responsibility for themselves, whereas the communication given to a second group stressed the staff's responsibility for them. In addition, to bolster the communication, the former group was given the freedom to make choices and the responsibility of caring for a plant rather than having decisions made and the plant taken care of for them by the staff, as was the case for the latter group. Questionnaire ratings and behavioral measures showed a significant improvement for the experimental group over the comparison group on alertness, active participation, and a general sense of well-being.

The effects of choice and enhanced personal responsibility for the aged: A field experiment in an institutional setting.

Age-Related Differences in Work Attitudes and Behavior: A Review and Conceptual Analysis

Overview: The changing family life cycle: A framework for family therapy.

Three studies were conducted to assess mean level changes in personality traits during adolescence. Versions of the Revised NEO Personality Inventory (P. T. Costa, Jr., & R. R. McCrae, 1992a) were used to assess the 5 major personality factors. A 4-year longitudinal study of intellectually gifted students (N = 230) was supplemented by cross-sectional studies of nonselected American (N = 1,959) and Flemish (N = 789) adolescents. Personality factors were reasonably invariant across ages, although rank-order stability of individual differences was low. Neuroticism appeared to increase in girls, and Openness to Experience increased in both boys and girls; mean levels of Extraversion, Agreeableness, and Conscientiousness were stable. Results extend knowledge of the developmental curve of personality traits backward from adulthood and help bridge the gap with child temperament studies.

Personality Trait Development From Age 12 to Age 18: Longitudinal, Cross-Sectional, and Cross-Cultural Analyses

The author believes that adulthood as a developmental period has been conceptually and empirically ignored in the psychiatric literature with but few exceptions. Two studies on the subject are reported: an observational study of psychiatric outpatients seen in age-homogeneous groups and a questionnaire study of 524 nonpatients. The author found discriminations between age groupings that center largely on the subjects' sense of time and on their attitudes toward self and others in relation to that variable.

The phases of adult life: a study in developmental psychology.

The authors conducted a study of people who call psychiatric clinics for help but fail to appear for appointments. Those with the most clearly defined reasons for seeking help tend to show up, while those with the vaguest reasons tend not to. The authors suggest that those who fail to follow through are possibly in greater need than those who do not. They recommend some simple clinic policy changes that can reduce the "no-show" problem.

Roger L. Gould

Papers

The phases of adult life: a study in developmental psychology.

Patients Who Flirt With Treatment: The Silent Population