Achievement, aggression, and perceived adult age stages

A questionnaire was administered to 173 male and female undergraduates to contrast their perceptions of the transition periods of young, middle age, and old adulthood stages of aging. A comparison of the perceived stages was then made with the personality dimensions of achievement and aggression. A 2 X 2 X 3 analysis of variance was computed for sex of S, sex of the perceived individual, and three adult stages. In addition, coefficients of correlation were obtained for 24 variables. The analysis of variance resulted in finding several significant main effects and interactions. Male judged the transition of age periods earlier than females for young and middle age adults, and females were perceived as entering the stage of old age at an earlier date than males. A directionality of establishing earlier transition ages by high scorers on the achievement dimension was also noted.