Generativity

Beyond doubt, survival, continuity, and positive change in every society, community, and kin group strongly depend on the readiness of its members to invest resources in offspring and future generations. In psychology, the term generativity was coined in the 1950s by Erik H. Erikson in his life-span model of psychosocial development describing such willingness as a concern in establishing and guiding the next generation. Erikson considered generativity to be the central developmental task in middle adulthood. This entry begins with a brief description of Erikson’s work on generativity and then provides a brief overview of the [Page 942]model of generativity developed by Dan McAdams and Ed de St. Aubin, which represents an integrative theoretical framework for empirical research.

By having successfully resolved earlier developmental tasks such as the consolidation of a personal identity in adolescence and the establishment of long-term intimate relationships in young adulthood, people have acquired the skills and resources necessary to contribute to the flourishing and well-being of others. Moreover, in adult years individuals are expected to contribute to their society by nurturing the next generation. In other words, the stage for individuals’ generative strivings is set up by cultural demands which reflect age-graded standards and expectations concerning when and how people should start to take responsibility for the following generation.

Those cultural guidelines, however, occur together with an individual’s concern for generativity, which stems from two basic motivational tendencies: (1) a desire to relate to and be needed by others and (2) a need for symbolic immortality. The latter aspect was particularly emphasized by John Kotre, who defined generativity as a desire to invest one’s substance in forms of life and work that outlive the self. Thus, by constructing legacies that live on, generativity supports people in their desire to defy death by adapting to the consciousness of their own finiteness, which becomes more salient in middle adulthood. A failure to contribute to the next generation blocks personal development: Individuals develop a sense of stagnation and self-absorption and feel detached from others.

In contrast, individuals who successfully resolve the task of generativity grow and develop as a person: Generative people ascribe more meaning to their lives; they are generally healthier and satisfied and show fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety. Moreover, two important issues are briefly highlighted: the significance of generativity for successful aging and conclusions on the universality of the mental architecture of generativity drawn from cross-cultural research.