IS WOMENS IDENTITY ACHIEVEMENT ASSOCIATED WITH THE EXPRESSION OF GENERATIVITY - EXAMINING IDENTITY AND GENERATIVITY IN MULTIPLE ROLES

We hypothesized that the degree to which middle-aged mothers are ident ity-achieved is related both to their well-being and their generativit y. A unique feature of this research is the examination of identity an d generativity separately in the context of specific role domains. Alt hough midlife women reported significantly lower moratorium and higher diffusion than did college women, reports of identity achievement did not differ between the two samples. Identity achievement was, however , more consistently associated with midlife women's positive well-bein g than foreclosure, moratorium, or diffusion. While global measures of identity and generativity were not related, significant relationships were observed when identity and generativity were measured separately in the context of specific role domains.