"The cumulative personality model states that with time and age personality becomes more stable”. Do you agree with this statement?

Question :
"The cumulative personality model states that with time and age personality becomes more stable”. Do you agree with this statement? Please illustrate your answer with an example. It can be your own development or your observation of your friend or family member’s development.

Answer:

In a way, I agree with this statement. Emotions are less extreme and more enduring later in life. They tend to experience life more evenly...the good things don't make them overly happy nor bad things drag them down completely...perhaps through life experiences, at this juncture, one will know his/her limits and on the other hand, knowing what skills or abilities needed to achive certain things. I guess at this stage, how one thinks or relate will correlate with how one reflects on his/her past...is he/she satisfied with what he/she has done? Or will he/she look at his/her life with regret ?

Observing one of my uncles, he would often tell me how regretful that he didn't do this/that when he was younger... On the other hand, he would tell me what he has achieved at his previous jobs...repeatedly... So in a way, they balance off...

This reminds me of the reminiscence therapy that is usually used with older adults. By discussing they past, both regrets and achievements, it helps improve the mood of older adults. (Santrock P 590)


Middle-age adults in many respects may have 'softened.' They have perhaps learned from their mistakes, major on the majors not the minors, and are perhaps more realistic in their pursuits and expectations.

The cumulative personality model indicates that people become more adept at interacting with their enviornment in ways that promotes increased stability and personality. They become more confident, warm, responsible and calm, in short they become more 'socially mature.' I wonder if it could be said that when people get 'older' they are becoming more comfortable in their own skin." They are learning to accept who they are.

How have I seen this in others? What I have noticed, is with women at this stage is that they are now 'free' to embark upon their career. They know who they are, who they aren't and usually they pursue an interest/career that is a culmination of all the activities, passions and pursuits that they have been apart of over the years. I think perhaps there is a more focus to who they are and what they are about.

There is an alternative interpretation of the cumulative personality model.


People attempt to achieve stability within oneself through selective information sampling to minimize cognitive coherence. In another word, as people grow older, they are more comfortable in their own skin (as Michelle said), more confidence in their instinct, sometimes may be even over-confidence and prone to jump to conclusion, thus easily discard values, beliefs and opinions different from their own.


For example, sometimes I find it more difficult to convince older adults than the young ones on a great variety of subjects, regardless of whether they have expert knowledge in it or not. I believe this maintenance of stability in older adults is adaptive because cognitive incoherence is minimized, thus encounter less inner frustration. But it is maladaptive in personality development as well as intellectual learning, because they refute too easily any ideas that are inconsistent with their own limited knowledge, thus they become their biggest enemy in the pursuit of knowledge or becoming a better person. What do you think?

Answer 2:
When we reach middle adulthood, we think we are not as energetic as before. "Those were the days" is the usual expression when we recall the achievement in the past.

When we come across some downturns in life, we will say "let it be". It sounds a bit permissive. This is only one side of the story. My friends choose to have "stability" in career and relationship but they challenge themselves in other field such as rock-climbing and sky-diving.

I have a different point of view towards your example. My father-in-law won't listen a word from me about cooking style and some health concerns. However, he will sit tight and pay attention to me when I teach him how to use a computer. Cheers!


As it models a teachableness of my father-in-law. He could have easily passed criticism on technology, as a way of dismissing himself from it, but instead he willingly wants to learn. There is humility in that. As they say, "You can teach old dogs new tricks."

Sometimes, it seems that when people get older people seem to yield to those who are older, and a sense of entitlement develops. It can be a huge learning curve to have had many people working for you and now you don't. Big adjustments