ABSTRACT
A necessary complement to the social structural analysis is the focus on the individual woman, her personal qualities and attributes, and whether she views herself as powerful and influential. This chapter reviews the controversy and criticism surrounding the study of personality development in women. The ability to exert power and influence is a common thread running through theories of personality development in adulthood and aging. Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stage theory of ego development addressed issues of social power and influence. The work of Bernice Neugarten provides a further perspective on the developmental patterning of social power and influence. All of the theoretical perspectives presented addressed issues of social power and influence and further suggested change in these characteristics in the second half of life. Middle-aged women viewed complexity as prominent in their self-perceptions at present, but also recalled it being a salient dimension in young adulthood and anticipated it would remain an important part of their self-description in old age.
