We are not the first psychologists with the goal of identifying individual differences in patterns of aging. Helson and Srivastava(2001), for example, identified three paths of adult development. In a sample of Mills College graduates, they found that women at 60 who scored high on Ryff's(1989) scale of environmental mastery (the conservers) were characterized by high levels of competence, women who scored high on personal growth(the seekers) were characterized by high levels of ego development and wisdom, and women who scored high on both environmental mastery and personal growth (the achievers) were characterized by generativity and competence.
年の重ね方の個々の違いを見定めようとする心理学者は我々が始めてではない。たとえば、Helsonと Srivastava(2001)は、成人の発達の3つの道筋を識別した。Mills大学の卒業生の例では、Ryff(1989) の指標である環境制御力で高い値の60歳の女性 (the conservers/保守者) は、能力の高さが顕著であり、人格の成長で高い数値の女性（the seekers/探求者)は、自我の発達と知識面が、環境制御力と人格の成長 の両方で高値の女性(the achievers/達成者)はジェネラビリティ/次世代育成能力と能力の高さが顕著であった。
