Generativity in Culture Context: The Self, Death and Immortality as Experienced by Older American Women

Abstract

Theoretical approaches to conceptualising the notion of generativity have been psychologically or psychosocially based and assume generativity to be a universal phenomenon. Because psychological issues are subsumed within a cultural context, we suggest that generativity is not a universal psychological principle but rather a cultural construct. In this paper we argue that generativity must be analysed as a product of American culture and its embeddedness in individualism. Through an analysis of ethnographically based interviews with 161 older women we illustrate how generative behaviour is inextricably tied to a constellation of American beliefs about the nature of the self, the meaning of death, and attempts to attain immortality that are informed by the ideology of individualism.

The Effect of Suffering on Generativity: Accounts of Elderly African American Men

“…A LTHOUGH generativity was originally explored as a psychological and developmental construct ( Erikson, 1963 ), further research explored generativity as a cultural phenomenon ( Alexander, Rubinstein, Goodman, & Luborsky, 1991 ). Culturally, generative actions are context dependent and cannot be separated from personal identity factors, such as ethnicity and gender, and from social circumstances.…”

A Field in Search of Concepts: The Relevance of Generativity to Understanding Intergenerational Relationships

“…Erikson thought that generativity was a fairly universal phenomenon, since it is the principle that, regardless of culture, makes people care for the next generations and accounts for the transmission of cultural values and practices from older to younger generations. However, some studies have found that generative behavior is linked to American beliefs about the nature of the self and its emphasis in individualism (Alexander, Rubinstein, Goodman, & Luborsky, 1991), while others have found a stronger emphasis on generativity in collectivistic than in individualistic cultures (Hofer, Busch, Chasiotis, Kärtner, & Campos, 2008). Clearly, more research is needed to ascertain if generativity or some or its components vary or remain stable across cultures.…”

Biblical Themes for Pastoral Care Revisited: An Asian American Re-Reading of a Classic Pastoral Care Text

“…Simply put, it is a sense of pessimism about the persistence of the cultural community. In my ethnographic fieldwork as well as in more everyday interactions with Japanese Americans, particularly Nisei elders, I have heard a number of people 16 Working from a Geertzian perspective, Alexander, Rubinstein, Goodman, and Luborsky (1991) criticize Erikson for being too focused on biological procreation and argue that his concept of generativity is embedded in the American cultural value of individualism-that is, people invest in others because they unconsciously are seeking to create an enduring, continuous self that transcends death, so generativity is a culturally sanctioned form of self-absorption. While I concur with both these points, I do not believe that either is the major theme that Alexander et al assert them to be.…”