Generativity-Stagnation: A Five-Category Model

The main task of generativity–stagnation, Erik Erikson’s seventh stage of normative psychosocial development, is to establish and guide the next generation through one’s acts of care. Five statuses, or prototypic styles of resolving the issues of this stage, determined using a new, semistructured interview measure, are defined using combinations of (1) an individual’s level of involvement, or active concern for the growth of the self and others; and (2) an individual’s inclusivity, or scope of caregiving concern. Construct validation efforts sought concurrent validity using two different scale measures of generativity, and discrimination between status profiles using the NEO Personality Inventory and Loevinger’s Sentence Completion Test of ego development. Results generally support the new status model and point to areas of conceptual convergence and divergence between this approach and other generativity measures.