The major specific aim of the proposed 36-month study is to examine the lifestyles of childless elderly men. While important areas to be investigated include social networks and support, well-being, activities, and self-conceptions, central to the proposed research is the concept of generativity. Defined first by Erikson as """"""""an interest in establishing and guiding the next generation,"""""""" generativity will be defined here as enduring involvement or investment by individuals in people, groups, activities, and things, often in a caring or nurturant way, which may survive their passing. A focal question to be addressed is how themes of personal generativity are expressed by childless older men in later life. A great deal of recent gerontological research has examined parent-child relations. However, about 20% of those 65 and older have no living children, this having occurred through conscious decision, infertility, or loss. There is little published information on this social category. Groups of older men to be investigated in the proposed research include: (1) the never married, (2) the husband in a currently married older couple who never had children, (3) widowers who never had children, (4) both married and widowed who have suffered the loss of an adult child/ren and are now childless. These will be compared to men with one child and those with four or more. Twenty-five persons of each type will be interviewed; (N=150). Each subject will undergo a series of three qualitative interviews. A first interview features the collection of background data and a life history. A second and third interview feature the collection of data on generativity and the meaning of childlessness. Data analysis is primarily qualitative; a number of hypotheses will also be tested quantitatively. Cross-gender hypotheses will be examined by comparing these findings with those on women. Findings from the research will provide significant descriptive and comparative data on the lives of aged childless men. Data on network and support adequacy will be of use to practitioners, providing useful data for health-related interventions. Information on self-conception and generativity should add a new dimension to gerontological perception of these elderly.
