Contribution of Personality Research to an Understanding of Stress and Aging
In recent years, a number of investigators with interests in history, society, the family, and aging have begun to define a field of research on aging and the family (Glick, 1977; Hareven, 1978; Neugarten, 1968; Shanas, 1979, 1980; Sussman, 1976). In particular, with her 1971 review and more recent volume (Troll, Miller, and Atchley, 1979), Lillian Troll clarified a number of issues in both disciplines, and called attention to significant research issues which needed to be empirically addressed. Our aim in this chapter is similar, if much more limited: we hope to review briefly what is known about aging and family stress, drawing on both the gerontological and family studies literatures, and to review some of our own work on personality, stress, and aging. We will then discuss the implications of these findings for future research on aging and the family.
