The term generativity was coined by the psychoanalyst Erik Erikson in 1950 to denote “a concern for establishing and guiding the next generation.” He first used the term while defining the Care stage in his theory of the stages of psychosocial development.

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Generativity is the propensity and willingness to engage in acts that promote the wellbeing of younger generations as a way of ensuring the long-term survival of the species. From: The Psychology of Mattering, 2018.

(WHYL Question) what are the three needs in adults, according to Erickson? generativity vs stagnation (adults seeking to be productive as parents ect.) integrity vs despair (9th stage) fully accepting oneself, taking responsibility for your life and decisions and coming to terms with death.

Generativity in Late Adulthood. People in late adulthood continue to be productive in many ways. These include work, education, volunteering, family life, and intimate relationships. Older adults also experience generativity (recall Erikson’s previous stage of generativity vs.

Individuals with interest and agreeableness toward others, who are organized, persistent, and motivated, are more predisposed to generativity. These results open the way to develop intervention programs that enhance positive personality traits and generative interest to improve quality of life of older people.

Generativity can be achieved by developing and nurturing ideas as well as children….Generally, biological progenitors assume the role of parents, but some children’s primary needs are in the hands of other parents:

1. foster or adoptive parents.
2. relatives.
3. attendants in institutions.

Midlife is a period of transition in which one holds earlier images of the self while forming new ideas about the self of the future. A greater awareness of aging accompanies feelings of youth, and harm that may have been done previously in relationships haunts new dreams of contributing to the well-being of others.

Social roles, such as parenthood, grandparenthood, and career, are associated with how generativity is manifest. Research finds not only gender differences in generativity, but race differences, as well as changing levels of qualitatively different generative facets across adulthood.

In this study, women scored higher in generativity than men. Further analyses showed an interaction effect, indicating that the aforementioned gender effect is due to significant differences in the youngest age group.

During young adulthood, social-emotional development intertwines with that of identity, moral, and career in dynamic ways that portend one’s future attitudes and lifestyle.