Parenting and Generativity

Abstract

Abstract After reviewing Erikson’s adult stages of development and the literature on generativity and positive parenting, this chapter focuses on what can happen when parenting efforts go awry. The psychological literature discussing generativity and the negative impact of parents on offspring is limited. In such cases where theory and research are not well developed, it may be useful to study literary works that thematically address important topics in psychology. Toward this end, this chapter examines Arthur Miller’s Death of a Salesman and to a lesser extent Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol as sources for psychological theory building and as inspiration for hypothesis generation on the concept of generativity.