Synonyms
Definition
Generativity versus Stagnation is the seventh stage of Erik Erikson’s psychosocial stages of development which was thought to occur during middle adulthood. This stage includes such important tasks as bearing and raising children, increasing one’s influence in their chosen professional field and integrating numerous processes. It was thought to take individuals right up to the last stage of development in old age.
Introduction
Originally conceived by Erikson as a stage in midlife which knits together the aspects of skill achieved in early stages of development with the future/forward thinking of the later stages in life, Erikson posited that generativity was the counter to another aspect of developmental struggle, stagnation. Since his original publication of a psychosocial stage theory of development in 1950, Erikson elaborated on eight stages (increased to nine stages in his last writings and carried forward by his...
References
Erikson, E. H. (1950). Childhood and society. New York: Norton.
Erikson, E. H. (1969). Gandhi’s truth: On the origins of militant non-violence. New York: Norton.
Erikson, E. H., & Erikson, J. M. (1997). The life cycle completed. New York: Norton.
Hofer, J., Busch, H., Au, A., & Šolcová, I. (2014). For the benefit of others: Generativity and meaning in life in the elderly in four cultures. Psychology and Aging, 29(4), 764–775.
James, J. B., & Zarrett, N. (2006). Ego integrity in the lives of older women. Journal of Adult Development, 13(2), 61–75.
Marcia, J., & Josselson, R. (2013). Eriksonian personality research and its implications for psychotherapy. Journal of Personality, 81(6), 617–629.
McAdams, D., de St. Aubin, E., & Logan, R. (1993). Generativity among young, midlife and older adults. Psychology and Aging, 8(2), 221–230.
Peterson, B., & Stewart, A. (1993). Generativity and social motives in young adults. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(1), 186–198.
Schoklitsch, A., & Baumman, U. (2011). Measuring generativity in older adults: The development of new scales. GeroPsychology, 24(1), 31–43.
Slater, C. (2003). Generativity versus stagnation: An elaboration of Erikson’s adult stage of human development. Journal of Adult Development, 10(1), 53–65.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Section Editor information
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2017 Springer International Publishing AG
About this entry
Cite this entry
Nantais, C., Stack, M. (2017). Generativity Versus Stagnation. In: Zeigler-Hill, V., Shackelford, T. (eds) Encyclopedia of Personality and Individual Differences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_589-1
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-28099-8_589-1
Received:
Accepted:
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-319-28099-8
eBook Packages: Springer Reference Behavioral Science and PsychologyReference Module Humanities and Social SciencesReference Module Business, Economics and Social Sciences