Chapter 5 introduces us to three personality dispositions over time: stability, change and coherence. The authors begin by reviewing several key conceptual issues in personality development. They define personality development, then define and differentiate rank order stability, mean level stability, and personality coherence. Next the authors review what should and should not be considered personality change. The authors note that personality change has two defining qualities: The changes are internal to the person, and the changes are enduring over time. The authors then review personality development from the perspective of three levels of analysis: the population level, the group differences level, and the individual differences level.

Next, the authors consider personality STABILITY over time, first addressing stability of temperaments during infancy, then stability during childhood, and then rank order and mean level personality stability in adulthood.

Next, the authors address personality CHANGE, beginning with a review of work on changes in self-esteem from adolescence to adulthood. The authors also consider day-to-day changes in self-esteem. The authors then review change during adulthood along with several personality dimensions, including flexibility, impulsivity, ambition, sensation seeking, femininity, competence, and independence.

Finally, the authors consider personality COHERENCE over time and the prediction of socially relevant outcomes from personality assessed earlier in life. The socially relevant outcomes include marital dissatisfaction and divorce, alcoholism and emotional disturbance, and education and academic achievement. The authors review work indicating that childhood temper tantrums predict adult outcomes such as criminality. The authors next review work suggesting that the choice of marriage partner predicts personality stability and change.