Generativity and authoritarianism: Implications for personality, political involvement, and parenting.

Abstract

Generativity (Erikson, 1950) and authoritarianism have recently received increased attention in the personality and social psychology literature. The authors articulate connections and distinctions to test hypotheses concerning personality, politics, and parenting on a sample of adults and their adolescent children. The Big 5 Openness to Experience factor was positively related to generativity and negatively related to authoritarianism. In addition, high scorers on generativity were interested in political issues, whereas those scoring high on authoritarianism were not. High scorers on authoritarianism also used a punitive parenting style that had adverse consequences for parent-child relationships, whereas generative parents used an authoritative style that produced positive outcomes. Although generative and authoritarian individuals may share a focus on passing down traditions, the content of those traditions seems to span a wider range for people who are high in generativity.