New directions for research in personality and aging: A comprehensive model for linking levels,structures, and processes

A comprehensive lifespan model of personality is proposed that is based in developmental systems theory. The model integrates processes and structures within a level-of-analysis framework. The model builds on McAdams' (1995) delineation of three levels of personality but adds what is seen as necessary process constructs at each of the three structural levels he has identified. At Level I, the trait level, the parallel process construct is that of states. Level II constructs, or personal concerns, have their parallel in self-regulatory processes in service of individual goals. The Level III construct, the life story, has its process counterparts in social cognitive activities related to recounting life narratives, such as remembering, reminiscence, and storytelling. A brief overview of these six foci of personality demonstrates that each are firmly anchored in the aging research literature. It is argued that personality is most clearly revealed in later life and that this model allows examination of personality from both nomothetic and idiographic perspectives.