The eight roles identified by Erikson are trust, autonomy, initiative, industry, identity, intimacy, generativity, and ego-integrity. Many of these roles have received extensive attention from Erikson and his followers. However, the seventh role (generativity) has received relatively little notice. It is important to explore and write about generativity because it is potentially in the spotlight for many women and men in contemporary Western societies, and perhaps societies elsewhere in the world. It is also important because this deep level of caring, played out in four roles, provides us with the pathway and bridge to Personal and Collective Worth.
Courageous Cognition, Generativity, and Worth
As already noted, I wish to offer an expanded perspective on generativity that goes beyond Erikson’s initial description. Generativity is played out in four roles–not one. Each of these roles requires the actor to step into the spotlight at one or more specific times during the life play. As we enter the final stage of life, these four roles of generativity often interweave in exceptionally complex and marvelous ways.
I specifically propose that deep caring requires the capacity to see our volatile, uncertain, complex, ambiguous, turbulent, and contradictory world (VUCA-Plus) from several different perspectives. It also requires the willingness to act courageously midst a lure toward a distorted world of Serenity (Bergquist, 2025). To understand how this capacity and willingness unfold, we turn to the remarkably insightful work done by William Perry (1998) concerning cognitive and ethical development.
Dualism
Perry conceived of a four-stage developmental process. He identifies the first stage as Dualism – the tendency of some men and women to place everything into one or two categories: true/false, good/bad, honesty/dishonesty, etc. This dualistic stage often remains intact for many men and women as they mature, leaving them cognitively inflexible and often unable to generate much empathy or caring toward those people who are different from themselves in terms of race, ethnicity, political attitudes, abilities, and disabilities.
These are people who tend to look outside themselves for any confirmation of their Personal Worth. They rarely consider engaging in any generative actions that enhance Collective Worth. Remaining caught in this rigid Dualism, these men and women stagnate later in life, often escaping down a rabbit hole that promises distorted Serenity. The Dualists find it impossible or undesirable to support and encourage the younger generation (Generativity Two) or provide support and encouragement to members of their community and the activities that nurture this community (Generativity Four).
If the Dualist is active in their community, it is likely to be focused on a “special interest” project that is narrow in scope and often self-serving (providing a Bubble of Belief that ensures Serenity). While they may be interested in preservation of traditions and heritage (Generativity Three), it is often at the expense of alternative traditions and heritages established by people different from themselves. The third role of generativity among Dualists tends to be destructive and either short-lived or enforced through violence and repression (as in the “Generativity” Three of the Third Reich).
