Generativity

For midlife adults, mentoring, parenting, volunteering, and building organizations can increase meaning and well-being. For older adults, staying engaged with people and causes is framed as healthier than withdrawing. Generativity means investing beyond the self, especially in midlife. Disengagement from work, relationships, or the world is described as deadening. Generativity includes raising children, mentoring, volunteering, building institutions, and helping younger people.