title: For the benefit of others: generativity and meaning in life in the elderly in four cultures.
abstract: Generativity has been argued to be an important indicator of successful aging. Indeed, generative concern has been found to be associated with meaning in life. In the present study, this relationship is argued to be partly explained through generative goals. Moreover, the path between generative goals and meaning in life is hypothesized to be conditional on belief in the species (assessed through Machiavellianism as a proxy variable). This moderated mediation model is tested with data from 4 cultural samples: 856 Cameroonian, Czech, German, and Hong Kong Chinese participants aged at least 60 years provided information on their generative concern, generative goals, meaning in life, and Machiavellianism. Controlling for effects of relationship, level of education, everyday competence, and cognitive functioning on meaning in life, analyses confirmed the moderated mediation model in all cultural samples. That is, generative concern is partly associated with meaning in life because it leads to generative goals. In turn, these provide individuals with meaning in life. This association, however, depends on belief in the species in that meaning in life does not increase when Machiavellian attitudes compete with generative goals.
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Trier.
authors.forename: Jan
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Hofer
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, University of Trier.
authors.forename: Holger
authors.initials: H
authors.lastname: Busch
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
authors.forename: Alma
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Au
authors.affiliation: Institute of Psychology, The Academy of Sciences of the Czech Republic.
authors.forename: Iva
authors.initials: I
authors.lastname: Poláčková Šolcová
authors.affiliation: Department of Psychology, Palacky University.
authors.forename: Peter
authors.initials: P
authors.lastname: Tavel
authors.affiliation: Department of Applied Social Sciences, Hong Kong Polytechnic University.
authors.forename: Teresa
authors.initials: T
authors.lastname: Tsien Wong
mesh_terms: D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000375:Aging / Q000523:psychology*; D001290:Attitude; D002163:Cameroon; D003071:Cognition / Q000502:physiology; D003466:Cultural Characteristics; D018864:Cultural Diversity; D018153:Czech Republic; D004522:Educational Status; D005260:Female; D005858:Germany; D006040:Goals; D006723:Hong Kong; D006801:Humans; D019369:Life; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D008960:Models, Psychological; D017008:Negotiating; D010549:Personal Satisfaction; D012919:Social Behavior