Meaning-Making: Therapeutic Processes in Adult Development and Meaning
                        and Medicine.

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to address how adult development (AD) theories can contribute to quality improvement (QI). Design/methodology/approach A theoretical analysis and discussion on how personal development empirical findings can relate to QI and Deming’s four improvement knowledge domains. Findings AD research shows that professionals have qualitatively diverse ways of meaning-making and ways to approach possibilities in improvement efforts. Therefore, professionals with more complex meaning-making capacities are needed to create successful transformational changes and learning, with the recognition that system knowledge is a developmental capacity. Practical implications In QI and improvement science there is an assumption that professionals have the skills and competence needed for improvement efforts, but AD theories show that this is not always the case, which suggests a need for facilitating improvement initiatives, so that everyone can contribute based on their capacity. Originality/value This study illustrates that some competences in QI efforts are a developmental challenge to professionals, and should be considered in practice and research.

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The Call of Wisdom: Adult Development within Christian Community, Part I: The Crisis of Modern Theories of Post-Formal Development

Journal of Psychology and Theology ◽

10.1177/009164719602400201 ◽

1996 ◽

Vol 24 (2) ◽

pp. 83-92 ◽

Cited By ~ 4

Author(s):

Eric L. Johnson

Keyword(s):

United States ◽

Adult Development ◽

Faith Development ◽

Meaning Making ◽

The United States ◽

Gradual Transition ◽

Common Ancestry ◽

Christian Community ◽

Modern Thought ◽

Adult Cognition

Becoming an adult is a distinct, but gradual transition in the development of an individual. A number of theories exist that attempt to describe some important features that distinguish early adult cognition from adolescent, including differences in moral reasoning (Kohlberg), meaning-making (Perry), and faith development (Fowler), among others. After reviewing these three influential theories, some of their similarities are noted, including their common ancestry in modernity. A case is then made that present theories of qualitative adult cognitive development are only of limited value to the Christian community because they are as much an expression of modern thought as they are a documentation of how young adults in the United States accommodate to the modern thought to which they are exposed.

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Future

10.1093/oso/9780190695781.003.0004 ◽

2018 ◽

Author(s):

Barbara Kellerman

Keyword(s):

Leadership Development ◽

Adult Development ◽

Meaning Making ◽

Good Reason ◽

Limited Period

The chapter moves from where learning to lead was and is, to where it could go. It explores three domains to which attention must be paid. First is meaning-making—specifically the meaning we make of becoming a leader. Second is developing—specifically changing and growing during adulthood. Third is learning—specifically learning to lead lifelong, notably, again, during adulthood. The focus is on three different terms that, for no good reason, are used interchangeably: leadership education, leadership training, and leadership development. Finally, the discussion homes in on leadership development, which, not incidentally, is related to adult development. Why? Because limiting leadership learning to a limited period limits leadership learning, period. We can agree that it generally takes years or even decades to develop a first-rate professional cook, say, or a first-rate professional pianist. Time to apply the same standard to becoming a leader—a first-rate professional leader.

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The Critique of Regression

Journal of the American Psychoanalytic Association ◽

10.1177/0003065116679111 ◽

2016 ◽

Vol 64 (6) ◽

pp. 1097-1131 ◽

Cited By ~ 5

Author(s):

Gregory S. Rizzolo

Keyword(s):

Adult Development ◽

Meaning Making ◽

Theoretical Framework ◽

Mental Development ◽

Mental Life ◽

Core Concept ◽

Models Of Development ◽

Genetic Fallacy ◽

Object Of Study

The term regression refers to the idea that a person can return to earlier phases of mental development and the primitive modes of functioning associated with them. A core concept in both conflict and deficit models of development, the idea has nonetheless come under increasing scrutiny from critics who argue that it misleads us into a genetic fallacy whereby we reduce the issues of adolescent and adult development to their childhood precursors. Inderbitzen and Levy (2000) suggest that we focus on transformations, or shifts, in mental organization, instead of on regressions. But discarding the concept of regression has theoretical implications: to adopt instead a focus on shifts in mental organization we must (1) consider our object of study to be the meaning-making person, not isolated instincts or needs; (2) understand conscious and unconscious mental life to be embedded in the here-and-now relational field; and (3) adopt a lifespan model of development. The aim here is to outline a theoretical framework in which we can more fully explore the possibility of discarding “regression” in favor of a focus on transformations in the developmental present.

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Developing Self-Authorship in College to Navigate Emerging Adulthood

10.1093/oxfordhb/9780199795574.013.34 ◽

2014 ◽

Author(s):

Marcia Baxter Magolda ◽

Kari B. Taylor

Keyword(s):

Young Adults ◽

College Student ◽

Emerging Adulthood ◽

Emerging Adults ◽

Adult Development ◽

Student Development ◽

Meaning Making ◽

Personal Characteristics ◽

Young Adult Development ◽

Self Authorship

Many emerging adults find themselves navigating the complex transition from adolescence to adulthood while enrolled in college. The key to navigating the demands of college (and emerging adulthood) is not simply what decisions one makes but also how one makes them. This chapter foregrounds college student development research regarding the developmental capacities that underlie young adults’ decision-making processes. Drawing upon two longitudinal studies of college student and young adult development, the authors show how young adults move from uncritically following external formulas learned in childhood toward gaining the capacity for self-authorship—a journey that involves developing internal criteria for crafting one’s identities, relationships, and beliefs and yields the ability to navigate external demands. The authors emphasize that diverse combinations of personal characteristics, experiences, and meaning-making capacities yield diverse pathways toward self-authorship. They also highlight how higher education can promote self-authorship and explore further research to better understand self-authorship’s relevance across cultures.

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Personality's Correlates of Adult Development and Aging

European Psychologist ◽

10.1027//1016-9040.8.3.131 ◽

2003 ◽

Vol 8 (3) ◽

pp. 131-147 ◽

Cited By ~ 43

Author(s):

Gian Vittorio Caprara ◽

Mariagiovanna Caprara ◽

Patrizia Steca

Keyword(s):

Personality Traits ◽

Adult Development ◽

Self Efficacy ◽

Age Groups ◽

Well Being ◽

Efficacy Beliefs ◽

Cross Sectional ◽

Education And Health ◽

Development And Aging ◽

And Gender

Three cross-sectional studies examined stability and change in personality over the course of life by measuring the relations linking age to personality traits, self-efficacy beliefs, values, and well-being in large samples of Italian male and female participants. In each study, relations between personality and age were examined across several age groups ranging from young adulthood to old age. In each study, personality constructs were first examined in terms of mean group differences accrued by age and gender and then in terms of their correlations with age across gender and age groups. Furthermore, personality-age correlations were also calculated, controlling for the demographic effects accrued by marital status, education, and health. Findings strongly indicated that personality functioning does not necessarily decline in the later years of life, and that decline is more pronounced in males than it is in females across several personality dimensions ranging from personality traits, such as emotional stability, to self-efficacy beliefs, such as efficacy in dealing with negative affect. Findings are discussed in terms of their implications for personality theory and social policy.

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