Generativity, Attachment Style, Personal Meaning in Life and Related Psychosocial Variables Across the Developmental Trajectory: An Exploratory Study

Abstract

Culture and development across the lifespan play crucial roles in shaping the self. Personality gets moulded as people age, especially as they move through adolescence and young adulthood. The present paper delves into the developmental trajectory of selected personality variables like generativity, attachment style, personal meaning in life, affect, narcissism and relationship profile to unfurl their bearings on the personality make-up of individuals adopting the life-span approach to verify this hypothesis. The sample consisted 187 subjects, who belonged to three different age-groups, namely, young adults (N= 62), middle adults (N= 65) and late adults (N= 60), who were matched with respect to nationality, SES, education, religion, marital and working status. Significant differences among developmental groups have been revealed with regard to certain dimensions of attachment style and relationship profile. Further, significant gender differences in the form of females having higher loadings of avoidant attachment and dependent attachment style, and lower bearings of intimacy and fair treatment as regards personal meaning in life compared to their male counterparts have also been found. Significant intra-group findings have also been revealed. Implications of the study along developmental folds have been highlighted.