Generativity and authoritarianism: Implications for personality, political involvement, and parenting.

Generativity (Erikson, 1950) and authoritarianism have recently received increased attention in the personality and social psychology literature. The authors articulate connections and distinctions to test hypotheses concerning personality, politics, and parenting on a sample of adults and their adolescent children. The Big 5 Openness to Experience factor was positively related to generativity and negatively related to authoritarianism. In addition, high scorers on generativity were interested in political issues, whereas those scoring high on authoritarianism were not. High scorers on authoritarianism also used a punitive parenting style that had adverse consequences for parent–child relationships, whereas generative parents used an authoritative style that produced positive outcomes. Although generative and authoritarian individuals may share a focus on passing down traditions, the content of those traditions seems to span a wider range for people who are high in generativity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Life transitions and mental health in a national cohort of young Australian women.

Young adulthood, a time of major life transitions and risk of poor mental health, may affect emotional well-being throughout adult life. This article uses longitudinal survey data to examine young Australian women's transitions across 4 domains: residential independence, relationships, work and study, and motherhood. Changes over 3 years in health-related quality of life, optimism, depressive symptoms, stress, and life satisfaction, were examined in relation to these transitions among 7,619 young adult participants in the nationally representative Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health. Positive changes in mental health occurred for women moving into cohabitation and marriage, whereas reductions were observed among those experiencing marital separation or divorce and those taking on or remaining in traditionally "feminine" roles (out of the workforce, motherhood). The data suggest that women cope well with major life changes at this life stage, but reductions in psychological well-being are associated with some transitions. The findings suggest that preventive interventions to improve women's resilience and coping might target women undergoing these transitions and that social structures may not be providing sufficient support for women making traditional life choices. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Longitudinal analysis of midlife generativity, intergenerational roles, and caregiving.

Items from California Adult Q-Sort (CAQ) were used to assess psychosocial generativity (E. H. Erikson, 1950) in a sample of educated women at midlife. CAQ scores measured at age 43 demonstrated convergent validity with an inventory measure of generativity assessed at age 53. According to other longitudinal analyses, women who attained a generative stance at age 43 reported greater investment 10 years later in intergenerational roles (e.g. daughter, mother) but not nonintergenerational ones (e.g. friend, sister). Generative women also reported less subjective burden in caring for aging parents and more knowledge about community elder care programs. Further evidence suggests that participants felt embedded in a reciprocal caregiving network in which they themselves are recipients of care. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Generativity among young, midlife, and older adults.

Generativity is conceived as a configuration of psychosocial features constellated around the goal of providing for the next generation. This study used a stratified random sampling of young (ages 22–27 yrs), midlife (ages 37–42 yrs), and older (ages 67–72 yrs) adults to examine age–cohort differences in 4 generativity features: generative concern, commitments, actions, and narration. Although prevailing views on generativity (e.g., E. H. Erikson, 1963) predict a peak in midlife and decline thereafter, support for this developmental hypothesis was mixed. Midlife Ss scored higher than young and older Ss on concern and actions in a second administration of measures, but not in the first. Generative commitments and narration showed high scores for both midlife and older Ss and relatively low scores for young Ss. Generative concern, assessed with the Loyola Generativity Scale, was positively associated with life satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Establishing the next generation at work: Leader generativity as a moderator of the relationships between leader age, leader-member exchange, and leadership success.

In this study, the authors investigated leader generativity as a moderator of the relationships between leader age, leader-member exchange, and three criteria of leadership success (follower perceptions of leader effectiveness, follower satisfaction with leader, and follower extra effort). Data came from 128 university professors paired with one research assistant each. Results showed positive relationships between leader age and leader generativity, and negative relationships between leader age and follower perceptions of leader effectiveness and follower extra effort. Consistent with expectations based on leadership categorization theory, leader generativity moderated the relationships between leader age and all three criteria of leadership success, such that leaders high in generativity were better able to maintain high levels of leadership success at higher ages than leaders low in generativity. Finally, results of mediated moderation analyses showed that leader-member exchange quality mediated these moderating effects. The findings suggest that, in combination, leader age and the age-related construct of generativity importantly influence leadership processes and outcomes. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Prospective predictors of parenting satisfaction for fathers and mothers with young children.

Data from husbands and wives from 48 couples with young children (mean age?=?2.71 years) were used to assess whether each spouse's parenting satisfaction assessed 8 years after marriage (Year 8) was predicted by parents' personality characteristics, marital quality, and social support assessed at the beginning of the marriage (Year 1). With controls for all other variables, fathers' Year 8 parenting satisfaction was predicted by their own Year 1 instrumentality, whereas mothers' Year 8 parenting satisfaction was predicted by their own Year 1 expressiveness. These prospective relations were not moderated by child-related characteristics and persisted with controls for Year 8 marital satisfaction. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Intimate justice: confronting issues of accountability, respect, and freedom in treatment for abuse and violence

Comparisons of nationally representative survey data of the population ages 18-54 years in 1971 (N = 2252) and 1992 (N = 1718) from Finland show that sexual satisfaction has greatly increased particularly among women. Some predictors of sexual satisfaction of men and women are examined on the basis of the 1992 survey data on people ages 18-74 years (N = 2250). Correlations between social background factors, sexual ideas and assertiveness, optional relationships, sexual practices, organism, and satisfaction with sexual intercourse were calculated. To control the simultaneous effect of the variables explaining satisfaction, path analyses were conducted. Results show that young age, a sexually unreserved and a nonreligious childhood home, early start of sexual life, high education, sexual assertiveness, considering sexuality important in life, reciprocal feeling of love, use of sex materials, frequent intercourse, many-sided (versatile) sexual techniques, and frequent orgasm correlate with finding sexual intercourse pleasurable. There were some gender differences in the connections between the independent factors and satisfaction with coitus. The importance of sexuality in life, love, and the use of sexual materials were connected directly to physical sexual satisfaction among men but only indirectly among women. For women, but not for men, young age and early start of sexual life correlated with enjoyment of intercourse. The greater sexual dissatisfaction of women compared to men, which still prevails, may be due to their late start of sexual life, conservative sexual attitudes, unimportance of sexuality in life, lack of sexual assertiveness, and use of restricted sexual techniques. The emancipation of women may change these ideas and practices of women. This might lessen the gender gap in physical sexual satisfaction.     

Family satisfaction predicts life satisfaction trajectories over the first 5 years after traumatic brain injury.

Objectives: Examined the influence of functional impairment, stable marital status, and family satisfaction on life satisfaction trajectories for 609 individuals (435 men, 174 women) over the first 5 years after traumatic brain injury (TBI). Measures: Participants completed the Family Satisfaction Scale (FSS), Functional Independence Measure (FIM), and the Life Satisfaction Index (LSI) at years 1, 2, 4, and 5 after sustaining a TBI. Results: Trajectory modeling revealed that higher family satisfaction was associated with increases in life satisfaction for individuals with less functional impairment. Stable marital status was not significantly associated with life satisfaction trajectories. Implications: Family satisfaction appears to have pronounced beneficial effects on life satisfaction for persons with less functional impairment after TBI regardless of marital status. In contrast, a stable marriage appears to have no apparent benefits to self-reported life satisfaction over the first 5 years post-TBI. Theoretical and clinical implications of these results are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Realization of generativity in two samples of women at midlife.

On the basis of E. H. Erikson's (1950/1963) theory of midlife development, a measure of generativity realization was constructed with items from J. Block's (1961/1978) California Adult Q-Set (CAQ). Convergent and discriminant validity for the new CAQ measure were established through a survey of 2 samples of educated women at about 43 years of age (N?=?208). These 2 samples, 1 from a study of Mills College graduates and the other from a study of Radcliffe College graduates, were also used to examine the personality, attitudinal, and life outcome correlates of generativity at midlife. Results indicated that generative women have prosocial personality characteristics, express generative attitudes through their work, are invested in the parenting process, and exhibit an expanded radius of care. In general, results conceptually replicated in the Mills and Radcliffe samples. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

Does it really feel the same? Changes in life satisfaction following repeated life events.

Unemployment, divorce, and marriage are common life events for most people in Western societies. In a longitudinal study, the authors investigated how these life events affect life satisfaction when they occur repeatedly. Data came from the German Socio-Economic Panel, a large-scale representative panel study, and were analyzed using multilevel modeling. Results showed that, in general, life satisfaction decreases with repeated unemployment (sensitization). For repeated divorces, life satisfaction is higher at the second divorce than it had been at the first divorce (adaptation). Finally, life satisfaction is similar at repeated marriages. Neuroticism, extraversion, and gender accounted for interindividual differences in changes in life satisfaction. For instance, the general sensitization pattern associated with repeated unemployment was less pronounced for women. The authors also found main effects of age and the duration of the first event on general differences in life satisfaction. Finally, those with repeated events generally report lower life satisfaction than those with only one occasion of these events, even before the first event actually occurred. Findings show that repeated events can have very different effects on life satisfaction that depend on the nature of the event. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

"You're only as old as you feel": Self-perceptions of age, fears of aging, and life satisfaction from adolescence to old age.

We examined differences in subjective age identification from adolescence to old age and the relation between subjective age and fears about one's own aging and life satisfaction. Using a questionnaire format, 188 men and women from 14 to 83 years of age made judgments about how old they felt, looked, acted, and desired to be. Respondents also answered questions about their personal fears of aging and present life satisfaction. Results revealed that individuals in their teens held older subjective age identities, whereas during the early adult years, individuals maintained same age identities. Across the middle and later adult years, individuals reported younger age identities, and women experienced younger age identities than men across these adults years. Results also revealed that discrepancies between subjective and actual age were associated with personal fears of aging and life satisfaction, especially in younger men and women. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Sources of life satisfactions of the Terman gifted men.

A 1972 follow-up of the L. M. Terman study of gifted men, when the Ss' average age was 62, permitted measurement of 4 target variables for which antecedents could be sought: life-cycle satisfaction with occupation, satisfaction with family life, degree of work persistence into their 60's, and unbroken marriage vs a history of divorce. The recorded events and expressions of feelings obtained at decade intervals since 1922 were searched for predictors. Both occupational satisfaction and work persistence were best predicted by feelings of satisfaction, ambition, and good health expressed as early as age 30. Family-life satisfaction and success in marriage were predicted by good childhood social adjustment, good mental health in later years, retrospective (age 40) positive attitudes toward parents, and best of all, by the Terman Marital Happiness Test (taken at age 30). Implications for personality-development theory are suggested. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Self-appraisal, life satisfaction, and retrospective life choices across one and three decades.

This research investigated the relationship of a self-appraisal of having lived up to one's intellectual abilities at midlife (average age of 49 years) with life satisfaction and retrospective life choices 1 and 3 decades later among 383 participants in the Terman Study of the Gifted. Study 1 showed that participants who reported living up to their intellectual abilities were higher in satisfaction with occupational success, satisfaction with family life, and joy in living 11 years later. Study 2 showed that participants who reported living up to their abilities were higher in overall life satisfaction and were less likely to report that they would make different life choices in work or family life 3 decades later. In an integrative structural equation model, the relation between the midlife self-appraisal of having lived up to intellectual abilities and overall satisfaction at age 80 was mediated by life satisfaction discrepancy at age 61. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Workload and the trajectory of marital satisfaction in newlyweds: Job satisfaction, gender, and parental status as moderators.

Stress, on average, is bad for relationships. Yet stress at work is not always associated with negative relationship outcomes. The premise of the current study was that associations between workload and trajectories of marital satisfaction depend on circumstances that may constrain or facilitate partners' ability to negotiate their multiple roles. We hypothesized that the covariance between changes in workload and marital satisfaction over time should be moderated by (a) the extent to which spouses like their work, (b) their parental status, and (c) their gender. Analyses drawing upon eight waves of data on workload, work satisfaction, and marital satisfaction from 169 newlywed couples assessed over four years confirmed these predictions. Specifically, across couples, demands at work covaried positively with marital satisfaction for spouses who were more satisfied with their jobs. For nonparent couples, increases in husbands' workload covaried with increases in marital satisfaction for both spouses. For parent couples, however, increases in husbands' workload covaried with declines in marital satisfaction for both spouses. Unexpectedly, for parent couples, increases in wives' workload corresponded with increased marital satisfaction. Finally, consistent with predictions, wives were more affected by their husbands' workload than vice versa. Thus, tension between work and marriage is not inevitable, instead depending on circumstances that facilitate or impair performance in multiple roles. Couples, employers, and practitioners should recognize the role that external circumstances play in determining how work and marital life interact. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2011 APA, all rights reserved)     

The role of parenting in men's psychosocial development: A longitudinal study of early adulthood infertility and midlife generativity.

Of a sample of 343 married men, prospectively studied for four decades, 52 (15.2%) experienced infertility in their first marriage. Styles of coping with their difficulty in achieving parenthood were considered across three longitudinal phases: initial substitutes, subsequent parenting resolutions, and final marital outcomes. The ability of coping strategies used in earlier phases to predict adaptation during later phases of adjustment was considered, as was the relation between coping strategies and the subsequent achievement of generativity as defined by Erik Erikson. Results indicated that the men's parenting resolutions, marital outcomes, and midlife achievement of psychosocial generativity were predictable at statistically significant levels, on the basis of knowledge of their prior infertility coping strategies and parenting outcomes. The findings lend support to the Eriksonian idea that parenting during early adulthood is a crucial but not sufficient prior condition for the midlife achievement of psychosocial generativity. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Gender harassment, job satisfaction, and distress among employed White and minority women.

This study tested the hypotheses that gender harassment is related to decreased job satisfaction and increased distress, and that White and minority women differ in their responses to it, in a sample of 385 women office workers. Over 70% reported exposure to gender harassment at work. As predicted, frequency of harassment was negatively correlated with job satisfaction and positively associated with an index of distress, assessed by self-reported somatic complaints, the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (Radloff, 1997), and the reported use of alcohol for palliative coping. Minority status was unrelated to frequency of reported harassment or to responses to it. The tendency to focus on negative aspects of self and environment (negative affectivity) was statistically controlled. Findings indicate that gender harassment is a commonplace workplace stressor that warrants serious attention. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Marital stability, mental health, and marital satisfaction.

Administered a test of emotional stability and a marital satisfaction scale to 50 couples seeking help with their marriage and to 50 couples with stable marriages. The stable group scored significantly higher on each of the 4 subtests of the emotional stability test as well as on the total score. For the stable group there was a significant relationship between marital satisfaction and emotional stability, but this finding did not hold for the group seeking help. The hypothesis was not supported that women who marry men with emotional problems are more unstable themselves, or that if 1 partner in a marriage is emotionally unstable the other tends to also become emotionally unstable. (19 ref.) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Love, marriage, and divorce: Newlyweds' stress hormones foreshadow relationship changes.

Neuroendocrine function, assessed in 90 couples during their first year of marriage (Time 1), was related to marital dissolution and satisfaction 10 years later. Compared to those who remained married, epinephrine levels of divorced couples were 34% higher during a Time 1 conflict discussion, 22% higher throughout the day, and both epinephrine and norepinephrine were 16% higher at night. Among couples who were still married, Time 1 conflict ACTH levels were twice as high among women whose marriages were troubled 10 years later than among women whose marriages were untroubled. Couples whose marriages were troubled at follow-up produced 34% more norepinephrine during conflict, 24% more norepinephrine during the daytime, and 17% more during nighttime hours at Time 1 than the untroubled. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Maternal characteristics and social support across the transition to motherhood: Associations with maternal behavior.

This study examined associations among personality, mood, stress, and social support during the transition to motherhood and quality of maternal behavior at 3 months postpartum. Seventy primiparous, married women completed questionnaires during pregnancy and at 3 months postpartum. Mother-infant interactions were observed in the home. Maternal sensitivity and expressivity were differentially predicted by social support and mood. Women reported more life stress and less satisfaction with spousal support postpartum than prenatally. Women who reported feeling more anxious and worried prenatally were rated as less expressive in interactions with their infants. Surprisingly, prenatal satisfaction with support from the new mothers' parents was negatively associated with maternal sensitivity. Results highlight the importance of examining prenatal as well as postpartum experiences as possible antecedents of the quality of maternal behavior. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)