Agentic and Communal Generative Behavior in Four Areas of Adult Life: Implications for Psychological Well-Being

Fifty mothers and 48 fathers of soon-to-be-independent children were interviewed to determine how agentic and communal generative themes would be reflected in parenting, occupation, volunteer work, and leisure activities. Mothers reported more communal themes (F5, 83 = 2.32, p <.05). Correlations between generativity and well-being resulted in a negative relationship for mothers in parenting communal generative acts (r = –.41, p = .007) and total generative acts (r = –.3, p = .05) as assessed by the interview. Negative correlations also emerged between mothers' well-being and communal generative acts from the Generative Behavior Checklist, (r = –.33, p = .02).