Life‐Span Perspectives on Positive Personality Development in Adulthood and Old Age

We argue that positive personality development follows two distinct but interrelated trajectories that begin to diverge in adulthood; that is, personality adjustment and personality growth. We review empirical evidence stemming from a wide range of adult personality research to substantiate the usefulness of this distinction. We argue that aging, in modern industrialized societies, so far normatively optimizes adjustment but not growth. In line with this evidence and with a contextualistic perspective on development, we argue that whether the potential for personality change actually unfolds also depends on (social) contextual influences. We therefore discuss in an exemplary and more detailed fashion two specific contextual influences that affect positive (personality) development: age stereotypes and the work context.