Lifespan personality development: Self-organising goal-oriented agents anddevelopmental outcome

Several historical trends are enumerated that preceded contemporary discuss ions concerning the development of personality dimensions, personality type s, and the person as a self-organising goal-oriented agent. For description of personality across the life course, the big-five personality dimensions are related to similar dimensions in temperament. For a proper understandi ng of the person as an active agent in personality development, a model for personality functioning is proposed that integrates elements of descriptiv e research on personality and temperament with theoretical views on persona lity and temperament functioning, that is, Block and Block's (1980) views o n the curvilinear relation between ego-control and ego-resiliency and Rothb art's (1989) ideas on the distinction between reactivity and self-regulatio n. Typological personality studies are related to this model for personalit y functioning. Finally, personality development across the life course is r elated to the development of four developmental domains (i.e., interpersona l, achievement, self-concept, and creative domains).