Midlife Women's Generativity and Authoritarianism: Marriage, Motherhood, and 10 Years of Aging

Generativity and authoritarianism assessed at age 52 were correlated with criterion variables assessed at age 62 in a sample of well-educated women ( N = 81). Results indicated that generativity predicted positive personality characteristics, satisfaction with marriage and motherhood, and successful...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Psychology and aging 2007-09, Vol.22 (3), p.411-419
Main Authors: Peterson, Bill E, Duncan, Lauren E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult. Elderly
Aged
Aging
Aging - psychology
Authoritarianism
Biological and medical sciences
Correlation analysis
Creativity
Developmental psychology
Family - psychology
Female
Fundamental and applied biological sciences. Psychology
Gender Identity
Generativity
Health Surveys
Human
Humans
Individuality
Life Satisfaction
Longitudinal Studies
Marriage
Marriage - psychology
Middle Adulthood
Middle age
Middle Aged
Midlife
Motherhood
Mothers - psychology
Parenthood Status
Parenting - psychology
Personal Satisfaction
Personality
Personality traits
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychophysiology
Sex Roles
United States
Women
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Summary:Generativity and authoritarianism assessed at age 52 were correlated with criterion variables assessed at age 62 in a sample of well-educated women ( N = 81). Results indicated that generativity predicted positive personality characteristics, satisfaction with marriage and motherhood, and successful aging. By contrast, although authoritarianism is linked in the literature to endorsing traditional gender roles, authoritarianism was uncorrelated in the current study with happiness about marriage and was negatively related to perceptions of motherhood. Furthermore, authoritarianism was correlated with neuroticism later in life. These data suggest that midlife authoritarianism may be problematic as women transition from their 50s to their 60s. Midlife generativity, in contrast, seems to offer one path to life satisfaction.
ISSN:0882-7974
1939-1498
DOI:10.1037/0882-7974.22.3.411