Exploring Generativity Through Dialogue: Reflections from the Field on Ageing in India
Dr Meghna Datta Roy
Deputy General Manager, Purple Audacity Research and Innovation

March 2026

My doctoral thesis investigated the interplay of generativity, gender, and the neoliberal landscape in the ageing process, guided by Erik Erikson's theoretical framework. This piece is a snippet from the thesis. It is a reflection of a young(er) researcher in her early 30s, interacting and engaging with older individuals in a residential elderly facility in New Delhi, India. Every interaction was an opportunity for intergenerational dialogue and a potential space for care. These individuals had limited opportunities to express their need to be needed. Many chose to reside in this facility of their own will, and many were forced by circumstances. While their lives contained dignity and their needs were fulfilled, they often lacked purpose and relevance. 

A small theoretical context before we proceed. Generativity vs. stagnation is the seventh developmental stage in Erikson’s (1977)1 life cycle theory; and it extends from parenthood to retirement. Beyond life stages, generativity lies at the premise of the desire to feel valued, relevant and be remembered. From this perspective, generativity punctuates all other developmental stages in Erikson’s framework and creates the forever-moving life cycle. In simple terms, generativity hinges on the desire to contribute, leave something meaningful behind - outlive oneself through being remembered and building a legacy.

Erikson identifies care as the central virtue of this stage. It is a developmental milestone and a lifelong capacity as humans are beings who live narrative lives – built around life experiences often shared as stories. We ‘teach and learn’ our ways of being, culture, profession, technology and more through sharing these stories and experiences. Thus, every human life cycle is dynamic and everlasting; life cycles merge into one another through the core generative act of sharing stories, teaching, learning and finding avenues to outlive oneself. Generativity lies at the core of the human need to be needed and essentially finds meaning through care.

One of the key findings of this research was that intergenerational dialogue is one of the most critical modalities of generativity - as it provides a direct opportunity to give back through life experience. Thus, every interaction that was built into this study was also an opportunity to share life stories, teach, learn and listen. 

The interviews made me appreciate the dialogic quality of an intergenerational research setting. Many participants saw them as an avenue to share and learn. I, too, shared glimpses from my life as I encouraged the same from them. The participants were at least interested and at most eager to express. However, their response to my presence and position depended on their personal beliefs and stories. As I entered the field, my appearance and their judgement of it coloured the conversation before any words were spoken. 

In one instance, two female participants became highly interested in my personal life as I continued to meet them. Since I did not present as a traditional married Indian woman, they were always curious about this discrepancy. They are both widowed and reported to have had a healthy married life. One of them, a 73-year-old Christian woman, wanted to see photos from my wedding as she shared her wedding album with me. The other 69-year-old Punjabi woman, who could not have children due to a medical condition, would keep urging me to get pregnant, mainly as a caution against losing my husband to another woman. As I walked out of the gate after my interviews one day, she sat at a sunny spot in the corridor. She waved and said with a smile, “Bring me good news when you come to meet me next. Look at me… I am sitting here; you can move and move ahead in life. Always remember that, do not become stuck like us.” Stagnation is the antinomy of generativity in Erikson’s theory and is defined as feeling stuck. A possible reading of her guidance was to keep moving in life through the biological generative act of child rearing to avoid stagnation. 

These instances from my fieldwork exemplify the complexity of layering intergenerational dynamics when studying ageing through a narrative lens. As researchers, we enter the field to gather data; however, the epistemological space between the researcher and the research participants is also a site of generativity through intergenerational dialogue. As participants shared their life stories in this study, the one-way flow of life experiences evolved into a dialogue punctuated by my life story as well. In studying ageing through narrative exchange, we find that care is not merely an object of study, but a practice enacted in the very act of listening and responding.

1 Erikson, E. H. (1977) Childhood and Society. New York: Norton. Erikson Childhood and Society 1950.