How to enrich scientific method.

integration remains difficult. In contrast, we interpret the dramatic increases in the more simplifying, self-protective style of elders as a movement that is initiated with increasing vulnerability in regulating homeostatic processes, including emotions. Indeed, our research and that of others (see Labouvie-Vief, Grühn, & Mouras, in press; Labouvie-Vief & Marquez, 2004) suggests that high complexity puts elders at risk, as challenges to integrative capacity induce a more global style. What is the significance of findings such as these? They not only make a contribution to life span theories such as those of Erikson and Jung but also help clarify the complex role of complexity—the need to differentiate between integrated and nonintegrated (global and fragmented) forms. Thus, they further underscore that in the end, positive development and well-being along the total life span result from a marriage of hedonic concerns and an open orientation toward complexity—and that this marriage is likely to go through transitional cycles of “storm and stress.”