Co-investigators: Professors Jutta Heckhausen, Jacob Shane (CUNY, Brooklyn), and graduate students Joseph Kay, Katharina Kriegbaum (Heidelberg, Germany)

In a series of analyses and publications we are addressing developmental regulation in various domains of life, including work, family, sex, and health. For these projects we are using the data sets of MIDUS I (1995), MIDUS II (2004), and MIDUS III (2013). Among the questions addressed in this line of work: To what extent do trait-like capacities for goal engagement and disengagement influence individuals engagement in specific domains of their life and how does that affect their ability to attain their goals in various domains? Initial analyses indicate that trait-like differences are influential, but mostly via their effect on domain-specific investment of effort. Moreover, we found pronounced differences between the developmental trajectories of sexual engagement in men and women.