Generativity is an adult’s concern for and commitment to promoting the well-being of future generations. Analyzing lengthy life-narrative interviews of late-midlife adults, we examined the extent to which a particular kind of life story is empirically linked to self-report measures of generativity and other indices of psychosocial adaptation in midlife. The results showed that highly generative adults are significantly more likely than their less-generative counterparts to construe their lives as variations on a prototypical redemption narrative, wherein the story’s protagonist (a) enjoys an early advantage in life, (b) exhibits sensitivity to the suffering of other people, (c) develops a clear moral framework, (d) repeatedly transforms negative scenes into positive outcomes, and (e) pursues prosocial goals for the future. The psychological and cultural features of redemptive life stories are considered, as are the problems and potentialities of life-narrative research in psychological science.

Four studies were conducted on young adults' goals and plans to change personality traits. In Study 1, a new trait change goal assessment tool, the BF-TGI, found Neuroticism to be the most frequently cited trait for a change goal. In Study 2, data was gathered from the UK, Iran and China. Iran showed a higher prevalence of normative change goals than the UK and China. Study 3 investigated plans to change traits. Extraversion and Conscientiousness plans were more specific than for the other traits. Study 4 investigated whether goals and plans to change predict change over 12 months, and found that goals and plans to change Conscientiousness and Neuroticism predicted change in the opposite direction to the goal. Keywords:Goals, plans, traits, culture, change, longitudinal, Big Five Goals and plans for trait change 4 Goals and plans for Big Five personality trait change in young adultsThe market for self-help books and self-improvement workshops is booming. People believe that with the right tips and enough effort, they can rid themselves of undesirable personality characteristics and increase positive ones (Chiu, Hong, & Dweck, 1997;Noftle, 2013). But does this belief reflect actuality? The self-help literature is based mostly on hope, not evidence, and empirical research looking at goal-directed attempts at personality development is currently scarce. The current study explores the extent to which goals and plans for personal change at the level of Big Five traits are present during young adulthood, what the content of these goals and plans are, and whether they predict change over a period of a year.Of all the age ranges of the lifespan, young adulthood has been found to be one of the most prolific in terms of personality trait change (Donnellan & Lucas, 2008). In a metaanalysis of mean-level Big Five longitudinal trait change across the lifespan, aggregated intra-individual change was greatest between ages 18 and 29 (Roberts, Walton, & Viechtbauer, 2006). Furthermore, young adulthood shows lower rank-order stability for traits than adults in older age groups (Roberts & DelVecchio, 2000). Indeed, recent analysis of data from 62 nations has found that personality change in young adults in the direction of increased Conscientiousness and Agreeableness, and lower Neuroticism, may be crossculturally universal (Bleidorn et al., 2013).Several theories purport to explain the change towards increased Conscientiousness, Agreeableness and lower Neuroticism, and would in turn help to explain goals to change in these directions. Socio-analytic theory advanced by Hogan and Roberts (2004) state that as they age, individuals aim for personality maturity as perceived by others, which involves being liked, admired and respected. In terms of Five Factor Model traits, they postulate that Goals and plans for trait change 5 this means becoming more agreeable, more emotionally stable and more conscientious. NeoEriksonian models of life course change, such as the model of emerging adulthood, also help to explain why this age ...

The current study explored parental processes associated with children's global self-esteem development. Eighty 5- to 13-year-olds and one of their parents provided qualitative and quantitative data through questionnaires, open-ended questions, and a laboratory-based reminiscing task. Parents who included more explanations of emotions when writing about the lowest points in their lives were more likely to discuss explanations of emotions experienced in negative past events with their child, which was associated with child attachment security. Attachment was associated with concurrent self-esteem, which predicted relative increases in self-esteem 16 months later, on average. Finally, parent support also predicted residual increases in self-esteem. Findings extend prior research by including younger ages and uncovering a process by which two theoretically relevant parenting behaviors impact self-esteem development.

Life narratives are the internalized stories that people construct to provide meaning, purpose, and coherence in their lives. Prior research suggests that psychologically healthy and socially engaged adults generally narrate their lives in a prototypical fashion labeled the redemptive self, consisting of five themes: (a) a sense of childhood advantage, (b) empathy for others' sufferings, (c) moral steadfastness, (d) turning of negative events into positive outcomes (redemption sequences), and (e) prosocial goals. The current study examines trait correlates of the redemptive self in 157 late-midlife adults. Summing thematic scores across 12 life story interview scenes, the redemptive self was positively associated with four of the Big Five traits: extraversion, conscientiousness, agreeableness, and emotional stability, but unrelated to cognitive features of personality, as assessed on openness and ego development. The findings suggest those with positive socio-emotional personality traits, but not necessarily a proclivity for sophisticated thoughts, tend to have redemptive life stories.

We examined continuity and change in the tendencies to construct a life story (i.e., narrative identity) that was redemptive or contaminated in nature. In Study 1, college freshmen and seniors wrote accounts of several autobiographical key scenes pertinent to narrative identity twice over a 3-year period. In Study 2, midlife adults provided, via a semistructured interview, key scenes twice over a 5-year period and also indicated whether their employment status had changed between assessments. Across studies, the rank-order consistency of redemptive and contaminated stories was moderate and low to moderate, respectively. In Study 1, the frequency of redemptive and contaminated stories increased throughout college. Furthermore, the frequency of contaminated stories decreased following graduation. In Study 2, changes in employment status corresponded with reduced redemptive imagery. These results suggest a possible narrative acculturation of young adults as well as a correspondence between changes in life circumstances and narrative identity.