Present and Past in Middle Life

Present and Past in Middle Life presents an interdisciplinary focus on the life course from adolescence to middle age. Part I is a review of the social history and life experiences that are shaped by the timing of historical forces exemplified in the Oakland Growth Study and the Guidance Study in California. Part II deals with the intrapersonal dimensions, covering topics such as health in the middle years, adolescence experience, personality, and IQ up to middle age. This part discusses the effects and changes brought by the Binet IQ tests, and then evaluates the correlation of IQ and adaptability to change. Physiological health and the ill effects of alcohol consumption are also explained in this part. The book also discusses the child-centered personality theory that the past is the cause and the present is the outcome. One paper analyzes adolescent personality as predictive to adult psychological health using 19 personality dimensions to arrive at a psychological health index at 40. Other papers discuss men's work careers in their middle years and those of women, highlighting women's relationship with work, personality, and their role in the family. The book can be useful for behavioral scientists, sociologists, counselors, physiologists, psychiatrists, and researchers involved in the field of human development.