Exploring Erikson's Psychosocial Theory of Development: Generativity and its Relationship to Paternal Identity, Intimacy, and Involvement in Childcare

Abstract

This study explored the relationships among fathers' involvement in childcare, identity, intimacy, and generativity in order to understand which variables best predict variation in fathers' level of generativity. The study's major findings were that fathers' paternal identity, psychosocial identity, and psychosocial intimacy were the best overall predictors of fathers' level of generativity. Fathers' paternal identity was the best predictor of fathers' generativity. Interestingly, fathers' involvement in childcare was not a good predictor of fathers' generativity. The study's findings also give support to the assumption that development in previous psychosocial stages (i.e., identity and intimacy) are extremely important to later stages of psychosocial development (i.e., generativity). However, this assumption needs to be tested through longitudinal methods. The finding that paternal identity was a good predictor of generativity gives support for the proposition of person-role merger, in which one's investment in a role can influence development.