There has long been an interest in the idea of generativity the concern for and commitment towards promoting the well-being of future generations. In Western societies, generativity can be characterized through societal contributions and acts dedicated towards others. Since the early 1960s, when Erikson proposed generativity as the major developmental stage of midlife adulthood, evidence has accumulated showing many benefits for those characterized as being generative. Positive associations with high levels of generativity include strong motivational inclinations towards public service, better mental health measures, and self-reported psychological well-being. That is to say, highly generative people seem to be able to create positivity for those around them and for themselves. This has given rise to an interest in understanding the motivations behind the generative individuals commitment towards generating positive change, and how, in spite of the many possible challenges associated with those commitments, generative people are able to maintain high levels of well-being. To understand the generative individual, personality researchers have examined the qualities which make up ˜hallmark characteristics of generativity. In addition to assessing traits, a particular stream of personality research has been focused on analyzing the content within the autobiographical life narratives of generative people. By examining these autobiographical accounts, a persons narrative identity their personality relayed through the subjective reconstruction of the past, acknowledgement of the present, and projections into the future may be understood. As individuals reside within the context of a sociocultural world, each persons subjective interpretations of lived experiences can be especially revealing of how they make meaning from significant events. For instance, recent research suggests that highly generative midlife adults tend to construe their lives following a prototypical narrative called the redemptive self, wherein a gifted protagonist with steadfast moral principles overcomes suffering to make a positive contribution within society. However, what has not been examined in full are the motivational qualities which emerge within the narratives of highly generative people. Two central motivational themes have been argued to be the basic modes by which individuals relate to their social worlds and seek fulfillment in human living agency and communion. The first theme, agency, refers to the motivational striving towards self-mastery, status, achievement, and empowerment. Somewhat orthogonal to this first theme, then, is the second motivational theme of communion. Communion encompasses the psychosocial concerns regarding affiliation, shared intimacy, relational support, and interpersonal dialogue. The use of agentic imagery in life narratives has been positively associated with clinical improvements to psychological well-being and health, whereas communion imagery has been linked to positive relationships with others and a deeper sense of purpose in life. As fundamental motivational themes, narratives rich in agency and communion may respectively provide for the individual an internalized private source of psychological support, as well as a sense of social connection to and integration within public domains. Yet agency and communion narratives relationship to generativity and how each of these measures play into longitudinal predictions of well-being over midlife adulthood remains unclear. To address these questions, this project reports on data collected between 2008-2017 as part of a 9-year longitudinal study of 163 late-midlife adults in Chicago. At baseline visit, participants were given a structured life narrative interview, with agency and communion coded at 3 life story scenes: high point, low point, and turning point. Additionally, participants were asked to fill out an extensive, annual, self-report questionnaire including assessments for demographic information, generativity, psychological well-being, social well-being, and physical quality of life. A summary score for successful midlife adult aging was constructed using the average of their standardized scores for the latter four variables. Using growth curve analyses, changes to psychological, social, and physical well-being were modeled using self-reported generativity, coded thematic agency, and coded thematic communion as predictors. Observed results affirmed a number of this projects seven main sets of hypotheses. First, in examining the construct of generativity, this project had partial evidence suggesting that the structure of self-reported generativity scores fell into latent dimensions of promoting the well-being of others and actively influencing others well-being (i.e., œgetting along and getting ahead). Second, beyond its concurrent positive relationship to well-being, self-reported generativity was associated with longitudinal increases in well-being over the course of mid-late life adulthood. Third, self-reported generativity was positively associated with the usage of thematic agency (but not communion) in individuals life stories. Fourth, thematic agency was positively correlated with psychological well-being, while thematic communion was not significantly correlated with social well-being. Fifth, narratives assessed to be high in thematic agency (but not communion) was associated with successful midlife aging, summarized using those measures of generativity, psychological well-being, social well-being, and physical quality of life. Sixth, narratives rich in thematic agency were not found to be associated with longitudinal increases in psychological well-being. Lastly, narratives rich in thematic communion were not confirmed to be associated with increases in social well-being over the period of mid-late life adulthood.

Last modified

• 11/20/2019

Creator

• Jen Guo

DOI

• https://doi.org/10.21985/n2-c5wy-b720

Subject

• Psychology

Keyword

• Agency
• Life Story
• Communion
• Generativity
• Well-being
• Narrative

Date created

• 2018-01-01

Resource type

• Dissertation

Rights statement

• In Copyright