Reviews research on aging and family stress and discusses implications of these studies for future investigations of interrelated subjects. It is argued that some knowledge and consideration of personality dispositions is essential for students of family stress. Personality is an enduring and pervasive influence on the lives of family members, and it influences the stressful life events people encounter, the perception of them as stressful, the choice of coping mechanisms, and the outcomes of psychological stress and dissatisfaction. To the extent that studies of family stress remain studies of stress in family members, these facts make it neccessary to control for individual differences in personality when interpreting data.