title: Parent status and generativity within the context of race.
abstract: Generativity, or providing for the next generation (Erikson, 1950), is usually associated with midlife, and related to parenting. However, the extent to which grandparenting or non-parenting are associated with generativity, especially within the context of race, is less well known. The current study uses narrative data from the Foley Longitudinal Study of Adulthood (FLSA; N = 150) to examine the relationship between generativity and parent status--parents, grandparents, as well as non-parents--in midlife African Americans and Whites. Responses to questions concerning future plans in Life Story narratives were coded for four subtypes of generative expression: general generativity, productive generativity, generative caring, and generative need to be needed; these subtypes of generativity were associated with parent status in different ways for middle-aged men and women of each race group. The findings highlight the importance of context, providing a glimpse of expressions of generativity at the intersection of parent status and race.
authors: Nicky J
authors: NJ
authors: Newton
authors: Izora H
authors: IH
authors: Baltys
mesh_terms: D001741:Black or African American / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D000368:Aged; D000375:Aging / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*; D005190:Family / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D016901:Intergenerational Relations / Q000208:ethnology*; D008137:Longitudinal Studies; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010287:Parent-Child Relations / Q000208:ethnology; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D044465:White People / Q000208:ethnology / Q000523:psychology*