The nature, prevalence and correlates of generativity among men in middle career

Multiple methods were used to explore the character, contexts, and correlates of generativity among 41 men aged 45–55. Generativity in the role of worker was unrelated to generativity in men’s roles as father, citizen and ‘leisurite’. Individuals who were generative in their work reported greater job satisfaction and subjective career success. These associations were stronger for generativity targeting societal well-being and fellow-workers’ growth than for creative/productive generativity. As some theorists have argued, therefore, nurturant forms of generativity may be more adaptive in mid/late career than other varieties, and more indicative of psychosocial maturity. The status of creativity/productivity within the generativity construct seems problematic. Our findings offer qualified support for McAdams and de St Aubin’s (McAdams, D.P., & de St Aubin, E. (1992). A theory of generativity and its assessment through self-report, behavioral acts, and narrative themes in autobiography. Journal of Personality & Social Psychology, 62 (6), 1003–1015) contention that generativity is expressed differentially in the domains of concern, commitment and action, and that the different relationships of these generativity domains to third variables can be interpreted in meaningful ways.