The Role of Generativity in Later Life in the Case of Productive Activities: Does the Type of Active Aging Activity Matter?

Active aging has been associated with both personal and social benefits. However, active aging encompasses a broad range of activities, including self-oriented and community-oriented ones. The aim of this study was to explore to what extent generativity is a key factor in differentiating between both types of activity, and to contribute to the theoretical and methodological literature on generativity as a multidimensional concept relevant to later life participation in certain activities related to an active style of living. A sample of 549 older adults who engaged in two types of self-oriented activity (leisure activities and students of University of the Third Age programs) and two types of community-oriented activity (formal volunteering and political activism) participated in this study. Following a mixed-method strategy, we administered several qualitative and quantitative measures of generativity, including generative concern, generative goals, and perceived cultural demand. Our results showed that participants who engaged in self-oriented and community-oriented activities differed on all dimensions of generativity. Differences in generativity were particularly high regarding cultural demand and future generative goals, which were far more frequently mentioned by political activists and volunteers than by university of the third age students and those pursuing leisure activities. Overall, our findings suggest that generativity plays a role in older adults' participation in some (but not all) active aging activities in later life, and that our understanding of generativity in later life gains from a multidimensional assessment of the concept.

Self and Nature: Parental Socialization, Self-Esteem, and Environmental Values in Spanish Adolescents

Emergent research seriously questions the use of parental strictness as the best parenting strategy in all cultural contexts. Moreover, previous research on environmental socialization offers inconsistent findings about which specific parenting practices would be the most appropriate for environmental socialization. The present paper aims to examine parents' contribution (i.e., authoritative, indulgent, authoritarian, and neglectful) to adolescents' self-esteem and internalization of environmental values. Participants were 308 Spanish adolescents with 171 females (55.5%), between 12 and 17 years old. The four parenting styles were defined using measures of parental warmth and strictness. Self-esteem was captured with global and multidimensional measures. Internalization of environmental values was evaluated by measuring the priority given to biospheric values. Results revealed a consistent pattern between parenting styles and adolescent self-esteem and internalization of environmental values. Overall, adolescents from homes characterized by parental warmth (i.e., indulgent and authoritative) have higher self-esteem and greater internalization of environmental values than their counterparts. These findings clearly contrast with those obtained in other cultural contexts where parental strictness is essential in achieving well-adjusted children with optimal psychosocial development.