ABSTRACT
Preceding chapters have focussed upon personality variables abstracted from their context or have sought the implications of personality change and continuity defined in a statistical, content-free way. In this and the next two chapters, the concern is with kinds of personality development and the different organization and implications of variables within these several character formations. The changes over time of alternative personality paths will be tracked. The available information will be mustered so as to picture the familial and environmental context linked with each of these several routes of character development. And the way the individuals representing these different life styles are faring as they begin the second half of their lives will be reported. This chapter presents rationale, methodology, and necessary background information; Chapter VIM reports the substantive findings surrounding the male sample; Chapter IX conveys the results for the female sample.
