Welcome!
The Mills Longitudinal Study is a 50-year investigation of adult development that has followed a group of women since they graduated from Mills College. We are currently engaged in our fifth follow-up assessment with the women, who are now around age 70.
The study began as the first-ever psychological study of women's leadership and creativity, and has expanded to include such diverse topics as personality types, personality change and development, work and retirement, relationships, health, social and political attitudes, emotional expression and regulation, and wisdom.
The Mills Study has produced over 100 scholarly publications.
The Mills Project is housed in the Institute of Personality and Social Research (IPSR) at the University of California, Berkeley. We are currently supported by grants from the Retirement Research Foundation and the Metanexus Foundation.
Events and Recent Publications
- "Positive Trends in Adult Development: Emotion, Relationships, Adaptation to Illness, and Personality." Oliver P. John, Tammy English, Sara Gorchoff and Ravenna Helson, U.C. Berkeley; Christopher Soto, Colby College. Symposium at the American Psychological Society, May 24, 2009.
- "Challenge Episodes Over Middle Age: A Person-Centered Study of Aging Well in Poor Health." Ravenna Helson, Linda George, & Oliver John. Journal of Research in Personality, 2009.
- "Using the California Psychological Inventory to Assess the Big Five Personality Domains: A Hierarchical Approach." Oliver P. John and Christopher J. Soto. Journal of Research in Personality, 2009.
- "Contextualizing change in marital satisfaction during middle age: An 18-year longitudinal study." Sara P. Gorchoff, Oliver P. John, & Ravenna Helson. Psychological Science, 2008.
