Generative Concern and Environmentalism: A Mixed Methods Longitudinal Study of Emerging and Young Adults
Abstract
In a mixed-methods longitudinal study, we examined the relationship between Erikson’s construct of generativity, measured at ages 23 and 26, and environmentalism at age 32. Over a hundred Canadian youth completed a questionnaire that measured generative concerns. Environmentalism was assessed by questionnaires on involvement, identity, and attitudes, as well as through narratives about personal experiences with the environment. Narratives were coded for meaning, vividness, and impact of environmentalism. Stronger generative concern in emerging adulthood positively predicted environmentalism after controlling for liberal political orientation and benevolence values. Qualitative analyses of the environmental narrative of participants high in generative concerns revealed three themes that highlight the developmental process that ties generative concerns to environmentalism: (1) wanting to feel more empowered to help the environment, (2) the role of having children as a focus for crystallizing environmentalism, and (3) the passing on of specific family traditions from earlier generations. Environmentalism thus may be one important domain of expression for generative care in youth.
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Biographies
Fanli Jia is a visiting assistant professor of developmental and cultural psychology at the State University of New York, Oneonta. His research focuses on adolescent and emerging adult environmental identity, moral development, and cultural integration.
Susan Alisat is an instructor at Wilfrid Laurier University. Her major research interests include identity, generativity, and the life story.
Kendall Soucie is a PhD candidate in developmental psychology at Wayne State University and a sessional instructor at the University of Windsor. Her research explores narrative identity development across adolescence and emerging adulthood, particularly the influence of culture and social ecology in shaping the life story.
Michael Pratt is an emeritus professor of psychology at Wilfrid Laurier University. His major research interests include identity development, narrative psychology personality, and the life story.
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Article first published online: April 9, 2015
Issue published: October 2015
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