Middle Aging in Women: Patterns of Personality Change from the 30s to the 50s

This three-sample study focused on changes in four key features of women's personalities (identity, generativity, confident power, and concern about aging) over the course of middle age. Based on women's retrospective and concurrent feelings about their lives in their 30s, 40s, and 50s, scales were developed and validated for the four themes. We found that identity certainty, generativity, confident power, and concern about aging all were experienced as more prominent in middle age (the 40s) than in early adulthood (the 30s). We also found that these elements of personality were rated even higher in the 50s than the 40s. Scores seemed to be a function of age more than historical period or particular experiences in social roles. Scores on identity certainty, generativity, and confident power were positively related to well-being, while concern about aging was negatively related to well-being.     

Selfhood and Self-government in Women’s Religious Writings of the Early Modern Period

ABSTRACT

Some scholars have identified a puzzle in the writings of Mary Astell (1666–1731), a deeply religious feminist thinker of the early modern period. On the one hand, Astell strongly urges her fellow women to preserve their independence of judgement from men; yet, on the other, she insists upon those same women maintaining a submissive deference to the Anglican church. These two positions appear to be incompatible. In this paper, I propose a historical-contextualist solution to the puzzle: I argue that the seeming inconsistency can be dispelled through a close examination of (i) the concepts of selfhood and self-government in Anglican women’s devotional texts of the period, and of (ii) the role that these concepts play in Astell’s feminist arguments.     

Traits in Transition: The Structure of Parent‐Reported Personality Traits from Early Childhood to Early Adulthood

The present research was conducted to map the hierarchical structure of youths' personality traits, to identify the foundational level of this structure, and to test whether the meanings of some youth personality dimensions shift with age. We addressed these issues by analyzing personality parent reports describing a cross‐sectional sample of 16,000 children, adolescents, and young adults (ages 3 to 20). These parent reports were made using a broadband measure of youths' personal characteristics, the common‐language California Child Q‐Set. Analyses of the full sample and comparisons of 16 age groups supported three main conclusions. First, the hierarchical structure of youths' personality traits both resembles and differs from the adult personality hierarchy in important ways. Second, a set of six dimensions—Extraversion, Agreeableness, Conscientiousness, Neuroticism, Openness to Experience, and Activity—may constitute the foundational level of the youth personality hierarchy from middle childhood through adolescence. This “Little Six” structure represents a union of the most prominent personality and temperament dimensions. Third, the meanings of some youth personality dimensions (e.g., Activity, Conscientiousness) shift systematically with age. These findings advance our understanding of when and how personality structure develops during the first two decades of life.     

Women in Cultural Transition: Suicidal Behavior in South African Indian Women

Young South African Indian women are a population with relatively high rates of suicidal behavior. This article presents three illustrative case studies of nonfatal suicidal behavior by South African Indian women. The cases are discussed in relation to a review of epidemiological, historical, and sociocultural perspectives on South African Indian women. It is argued that suicidal behaviors in this group can be understood in the context of sociocultural transition. Transitional tensions between traditional Indian culture and Westernization have an impact on traditional gendered power relations and generate conflicts that have intrapsychic and interpersonal consequences for women and for men. These in turn may have adverse effects on marital functioning, quality of life, and specific aspects of emotional functioning, which have been identified as precursors of suicidal behavior. The case studies are discussed with reference to gender narratives. Implications for prevention, intervention, and future research are discussed.     

Counseling Issues for Adult Women in Career Transition

This article addresses current psychosocial issues facing women in career transition and the implications of those issues for career counselors. Specifically, psychosocial developmental trajectories, the roles of family and relationships, the importance of underlying physical and mental health issues, and sociocultural and contextual stressors are relevant for women in the midst of career change. The author discusses how career counselors can prepare for this complexity and addresses clients' current economic and social milieus. A checklist is provided to aid the career counselor in addressing the multiple issues that a new client brings to the 1st counseling encounter.     

心理时间旅行与自我:发展中关系模式的转换

该研究分别考察了儿童中晚期(9~12岁)、少年期(13~15岁)和青年早期(17岁、19岁、21岁)个体心理时间旅行的发展模式,并进一步探讨了不同年龄阶段,情景记忆和自我对情景预见作用模式的转换。研究采用访谈法评估心理时间旅行,以自我描述(儿童期和少年期)或自我连续性(青年早期)作为评估自我的指标。研究发现:(1)儿童中晚期,想象未来情景细节的数量随年龄增长而增加,少年期和青年早期的情景预见能力则趋于平稳,与情景记忆的发展趋势一致;(2)无论在哪个年龄段,情景记忆对情景预见都是有效的预测源;(3)自我描述在少年期才开始对情景预见产生预测作用;(4)青年早期,情景记忆以自我连续性为中介变量作用于情景预见。     

Portrayal of Women in Sexuality and Marriage and Family Textbooks: A Content Analysis of Photographs from the 1970s to the 1990s

Previous research into gender role stereotypesin the mass media has focused on television, radio andmagazines. The present study sought to determine whethersimilar patterns can be found in photographic images of women in college-level HumanSexuality and Marriage and Family textbooks. Over 1000photographs of women were content analyzed. Resultsindicated that in the 1970s, photographs were devotedprimarily to traditional images of women. In the 1990s,while there were more photographs of women devoted tofeminist messages, photographs with traditional messagesstill dominated. The findings are discussed in terms of their implications for studies ofgender role development.     

White Women in Management Positions During the 1990s

The author reports recruitment data that were collected to ascertain whether or not White women were gaining entry into positions that would provide an avenue for consideration and possible promotion into management positions at a large military installation.     

Factors Influencing Women Over 40 Years to Take Precautions Against Cervical Cancer

This study investigated whether the Theory of Reasoned Action (TRA) and the Health Belief Model (HBM) would predict older women's intention to have regular Pap smear tests. The sample was a group of 144 women aged 40 years and over. Results showed that each model was a significant predictor of intention. Results also indicated that for some women the sex of the doctor was a significant factor in their decision to have a Pap test. Interview data indicated that some general practitioners did not believe it was necessary for older women to have a regular Pap test. These findings have application in planning health education campaigns.     

Spirituality and Young Women in Transition: A Preliminary Investigation

This study contributes to the growing body of knowledge about spirituality and life transitions. Through qualitative investigation, 9 young women in professional education programs described their definition of spirituality, their spiritual activities, and how they used their spirituality to cope with life transitions as they prepared to enter the workforce. These women viewed spirituality as including connectedness and a special relationship with a Being outside of themselves. Their spiritual activities were private and non‐traditional (e.g., meditation, prayer, being in nature), and most of them reported that their spirituality helped them deal with their life transition.     

Including Early Modern Women Writers in Survey Courses

There are many reasons to include texts written by women in early modern philosophy courses. The most obvious one is accuracy: women helped to shape the philosophical landscape of the time. Thus, to craft a syllabus that wholly excludes women is to give students an inaccurate picture of the early modern period. Since it seems safe to assume that we all aim for accuracy, this should be reason enough to include women writers in our courses. This article nonetheless offers an additional reason: when students are exposed to philosophical texts written by women, they learn that women have been, are, and can be philosophers. Given how underrepresented women are in philosophy, this finding is significant. If we aim to change the face of philosophy—so that it includes more women—we must include texts written by women in our syllabi. The article considers various obstacles faced by those who work to respond to this call to action.     

Volunteerism in a Community‐Based Sample of Women Aged 50 to 80 Years1

This paper has 2 purposes: (a) to present the differences in demographic and health characteristics of older women volunteers and nonvolunteers in a community‐based sample; (b) to identify the motivations of current and past volunteers, as contrasted with those who have never volunteered. A population‐based survey was conducted with a sample of 1,104 women aged 50 to 80 years in the state of Washington. Nonvolunteers were less likely to be married and were slightly less likely to be White than were current or past volunteers. Demographic variables (e. g., age) and health status predicted level of reported motivation for volunteering. These data provide us with population‐based estimates of volunteering and motivations for older women.     

Transition Discontinuities and the Biographical Shaping of Early Work Careers

Because of the restructuring of work and deregulation of the labor market school-to-work transitions have been predicted to become destandardized. These structural changes will finally also erode Germany's renowned dual system of apprenticeship training. From an economic-structural point of view it is likely that young persons' social integration and biographical plans can no longer rely on this occupation-driven transition arrangement. Based on a quantitative and qualitative longitudinal study with young adults in two German labor-market regions, this exploratory study shows that the dual system not only trains for certain occupations, but also socializes for the contingencies of the labor market. The results are interpreted in the new conceptual framework of self-socialization, which links individual agency with social contexts across the life course in terms of a biography-environment fit. Applied to transition discontinuities and shifting contexts of career development, processes of self-socialization are reflected in different modes of biographical agency in the shaping of early employment careers. Self-initiated and enforced discontinuous employment and occupational change are mediated by various constellations of occupational contexts and modes of biographical agency. The study suggests that for young adults the dual system still provides skills and orientations for coping with career discontinuity.