Two-polarities models of personality propose that personality development evolves through a dialectic synergistic interaction between two fundamental developmental psychological processes across the life span--the development of interpersonal relatedness on the one hand and of self-definition on the other. This article offers a broad review of…

Discusses a cognitive perspective on personality, focusing on how dispositions are cognitively expressed and maintained in social interaction. Shows how individuals interpret life tasks in light of their most accessible schemas, envisaging alternative future selves, and devising cognitive strategies to guide behavior. Discusses adaptiveness of…

Reviews research on the heritability of intellectual factors, personality factors, and psychopathology. Discusses the importance of investigating within-family environmental differences in order to understand the environmental origins of individual differences in development. (Author/BJV)