• J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci · May 2017

    The Relation of Ego Integrity and Despair to Personality Traits and Mental Health.

    • Gerben J Westerhof, Ernst T Bohlmeijer, and Dan P McAdams.
    • Department Psychology, Health, and Technology, University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands.
    • J Gerontol B Psychol Sci Soc Sci. 2017 May 1; 72 (3): 400-407.

    ObjectivesExisting studies in the Eriksonian tradition found that ego integrity and despair are important indicators of life-span development. The present study relates ego integrity and despair to contemporary theories of personality and mental health.MethodA cross-sectional study of Dutch adults aged between 50 and 95 years (N = 218) was carried out, using the Northwestern Ego Integrity Scale, the subscales for neuroticism, extraversion, and openness to experience of the NEO-FFI, the Mental Health Continuum-Short Form, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale-Short Form.ResultsExtraversion and openness to experience have an indirect relation to ego integrity that is mediated by well-being. Neuroticism was related to despair and explained the relationship of depressive symptoms to despair. Chronological age did not moderate these findings.DiscussionEgo integrity appears to be related to fluctuating states of mental health, whereas despair is more an expression of a general trait-like disposition of neuroticism. Implications for further research are discussed.© The Author 2015. Published by Oxford University Press on behalf of The Gerontological Society of America. All rights reserved. For permissions, please e-mail: journals.permissions@oup.com.

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