Personality and paths to successful development: an overview Lea Pulkkinen and Avshalom Caspi; Part I. Temperament and Emotion Regulation: 1. Temperament and socialization Mary K. Rothbart and Samuel P. Putnam; 2. The role of emotionality and regulation in children's social competence and adjustment Nancy Eisenberg, Richard A. Fabes, Ivanna K. Guthrie and Mark Reiser; Part II. Formation of Social Relationships: 3. Attachment relationships and appraisal of partnership: from early experience of sensitive support to later relationship representation Klaus E. Grossmann, Karin Grossmann, Monika Winter and Peter Zimmermann; 4. How do adolescents select their friends? a behaviour genetic perspective Richard J. Rose; Part III. Continuity in Individual Life Paths: 5. Personality types in childhood and adolescence: main effects and person-relationship transactions Marcel A. G. van Aken, Cornelis F. M. van Lieshout, Ron H. J. Scholte and Gerbert J. T. Haselager; 6. The influence of early behaviour patterns on later life Glen H. Elder, Jr. and Robert Crosnoe; 7. Studying processes: some methodological considerations Lars Bergman; Part IV. Environmental Contributions to Personality Development: 8. The role of ethnic identity in personality development Brett Laursen and Vicki Williams; 9. Time and change: psychosocial transition in German adults 1991 and 1996 Rainer K. Silbereisen, Matthias Reitzle and Linda Juang; Part V. Life Transitions: 10. Developmental regulation of life-course transitions: a control theory approach Jutta Heckhausen; 11. Social selection, social causation, and developmental pathways: empirical strategies for better understanding how individuals and environments are linked across the life course Avshalom Caspi; 12. Pathways through challenge: implications for well-being and health Carol D. Ryff, Burton H. Singer and Marsha Mailick Seltzer; Part VI. Personal Goals and Well-Being: 13. Individual differences in personal goals in mid-thirties Lea Pulkkinen, Jari-Erik Nurmi and Katja Kokko; 14. Social Production Function (SPF) theory as an heuristic for understanding developmental trajectories and outcomes Johan Ormel; 15. Searching for paths to successful development and ageing: integrating developmental and action-theoretical perspectives Jochen Brandstadter.