Midlife women: Confronting the developmental challenge of formulating a generative identity

Dorothy Stagner Pickens, Purdue University

Abstract

The process of identity formulation was studied with a heterogeneous sample of thirteen women between the ages of 40 and 65. Data were collected by means of semi-structured interviews. The women were asked to tell about their life experiences in the middle years. Through the processes of reviewing, reflecting, and projecting, generativity emerged as a dominant theme in the women's narratives of their lives. The metaphor of constructing a building was utilized to describe the process of the women's generative identity construction. Their review of the past revealed the building blocks, or materials, for the construction. The materials included: (1) Family of orientation that provided models of caring; (2) Hopes and expectations of how their identities would be formulated. These earlier expectations had to be reconciled with the realities of their lives; (3) Transitional points which were unanticipated events that had the potential for contributing to a growing self; and (4) Role involvements that provided avenues or preparation for generative expression in the middle years. Reflecting on the present represented the women's attending to the construction of their identities. The women expressed both concerns and satisfactions, but generally they valued this particular period of their lives and who they were becoming. Projecting the future was analogous to viewing the blueprint of a completed structure. The women projected their image of a more desirable society free of injustice and prejudice. Their projections of how they could contribute to achieving such a society reflected the incorporation of a societal generativity into their identities.

Degree

Ph.D.

Advisors

MacDermid, Purdue University.

Subject Area

Developmental psychology|Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology|Womens studies

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