ADULTHOODviews (Glenn 1980). While similar events can occur
later in life (e.g., a job or career change, remarriage,
or entry into an adult education program), they
are usually spaced more widely and are like those
experienced previously, rather than wholly new
circumstances requiring adaptation. Similarly, ex-
periences at work generally assume greater con-
stancy after an initial period of job instability
(Osterman 1980). Primary relationships that pro-
vide support for attitudes are often in flux during
the transition to adulthood; thereafter, stable pri-
mary groups may provide continuing support for
previously crystallized attitudinal positions (Sears
1981; Backman 1981; Alwin et al. 1991). Accord-
ing to this perspective, there may be continuing
capacity to change throughout life (Baltes et al.
1980), but if environments become more stable
after the adult transition, there will be less impetus
for such change (Moss and Susman 1980).
A second explanation links the ‘‘aging stabili-
ty’’ pattern to intrapersonal processes that increas-
ingly support the maintenance of existing person-
ality traits, and resistance to change. Mannheim’s
(1952) classic concept of generation implies that
the young are especially receptive to influences
generated by the key historical changes of their
time (economic upheaval, war, or political revolu-
tion). Analysis of data from the European Values
Survey shows that younger cohorts are less relig-
iously traditional, are more sexually and morally
permissive, and value personal development more
highly than older cohorts (Vinken and Ester 1992).
Alwin and colleagues (1991) find evidence for
a ‘‘generational/persistence model,’’ which simi-
larly combines notions of vulnerability in youth
and persistence thereafter. Before role and char-
acter identities are formed, the person may be
quite malleable. However, preserving a consistent,
stable sense of self is a major motivational goal
(Rosenberg 1979); and once self-identities are linked
to key attitudes and values, the person’s self may
become inextricably tied to those views (Sears
1981). Moreover, feelings of dissonance (Festinger
1957) arise when attitudes and beliefs that provide
a sense of understanding are threatened (Glenn
1980). Consistent with the notion that young adults
may be more ready to change, occupational expe-
riences (i.e., related to autonomy) have stronger
influences on the work orientations of younger
workers (ages sixteen to twenty-nine) than of those
who are older (Lorence and Mortimer 1985;
Mortimer et al. 1988).According to a third point of view, an interac-
tion between the young person and the environ-
ment fosters a process of ‘‘accentuation’’ of
preexisting traits. While early experiences provide
initial impetus for personal development, attitudes
and values formed in childhood or adolescence
are later strengthened through the individual’s
selection, production, and/or maintenance of en-
vironmental circumstances that support earlier
dispositions. According to this view, youth making
the transition to adulthood select and/or mold
their environments (Lerner and Busch-Rossnagel
1981) often so as to maintain (or to reinforce)
initial psychological states. This process typically
results in an ‘‘increase in emphasis of already
prominent characteristics during social transitions
in the life course’’ (Elder and Caspi 1990, p. 218;
see also Elder and O’Rand 1995).Such processes of accentuation take many
forms. For example, students choosing particular
college majors become increasingly similar in in-
terests and values over time (Feldman and Weiler
1976). Mortimer and colleagues’ (1986) study of a
panel of young men showed that competence
measured in the senior year of college predicted
work autonomy ten years later, which in turn,
fostered an increasing sense of competence. Simi-
larly, intrinsic, extrinsic and people-oriented val-
ues prior to adult entry to the workforce led to the
selection of occupational experiences that served
to strengthen these value preferences. A similar
pattern was found among high school students
seeking part-time jobs; intrinsic values predicted
opportunities to acquire skills and to help others
at work, and further opportunities for skill devel-
opment strengthened intrinsic values (Mortimer
et al. 1996). Alwin and colleagues’ (1991) follow-
up study of women who attended Bennington
College in the 1930s indicated that the choice of
associates and the formation of supportive refer-
ence groups—e.g., spouses, friends, and child-
ren—played a substantial part in maintaining the
women’s political values.Elder’s longitudinal study of young people
growing up during the Great Depression amassed
considerable evidence that successful encounters