When stability turns into gain: Changes in evaluations of developmental outcomes across adulthood

Previous research has demonstrated that people expect more developmental losses than gains with increasing age and that younger adults pursue different developmental goals compared to older adults. The presented thesis integrates research on age differences in developmental expectations (i.e., how people view development) and goals (i.e., which goals people pursue and how people pursue their goals) by presenting the first evidence for changes in evaluations of developmental outcomes (gains, stability, loss) across adulthood. The thesis consists of four parts. In the first part of this thesis, two studies (Study 1: N = 234, age range: 18 – 83 years; Study 2: N = 166, age range: 20 – 85 years) replicated the finding that loss expectations increase across the lifespan. Using newly developed assessment methods of perceived multidimensionality of developmental conceptions in different life domains (social relations, subjective well-being, cognition and physical functioning) and life stages (young, middle-aged, older), the studies established that across age groups the least losses were expected for subjective well-being. Additionally, the findings demonstrated the differential role of conceptualizing development of subjective well-being for perceived controllability and actual subjective well-being. Moreover, the studies presented the fist evidence that perceived multidimensionality decreases across adulthood