Personal Reflections on Generativity across Adulthood

Abstract

Abstract Inspired by an overlooked passage in the writings of Erik Erikson, the author comments on the preceding chapters in this volume by considering the different ways generativity is wrapped up with love, necessity, and accident. Generativity springs from love, both literally and figuratively. Under the banner of love, young adults care for each other, which prepares them to care for the next generation. Yet, the author would argue that the full expression of generativity, including features fraught with ambivalence and psychological complexity, typically awaits the midlife years. Generativity springs from necessity, too, in the hard work of caring, in paid and unpaid work itself, in volunteer activities, through leadership, and in a host of other activities, opportunities, and burdens. And generativity sometimes simply happens, by accident, chance events, bad luck or good, and in situations that defy the best efforts of human agency. Accepting the limits of human agency, and the inevitable constraints on generativity, becomes an increasingly urgent task as adults move into their later years.