When life gets in the way: Generativity and the development of non-idealized virtues in women’s life stories

ABSTRACT

The road to a virtuous life is typically met with roadblocks and detours. Life stories reveal the courses people chart around those roadblocks in their attempts to cultivate virtuous lives in non-idealized circumstances. Life stories feature difficult choices (e.g., between love and work, between pursuing personal interests and caring for others in need) that challenge individuals’ attempts to live out the virtues they most value. In this article we focus on the life stories of two women for whom the virtues of generativity and caring for others serve as deeply personal motives that came at a personal cost, notably in the pursuit of other paths of eudaimonic growth. However, these women’s virtuous actions were also a source of meaningful redemption when times got tough. Their life stories also reflect how their lives have been shaped by both personal choices and cultural master narratives of gendered ideals for a good life. Overall these women’s stories illustrate how non-idealized life circumstances can both facilitate and thwart the development of virtue.

KEYWORDS:

• virtue
• development
• narrative
• women
• generativity

Acknowledgements

The research for this article was conducted at the University of Dayton.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

This work was funded by the John Templeton Foundation (Templeton Religion Trust) through the Self, Motivation, and Virtue Project.

Notes on contributors

Jack J. Bauer

Jack J. Bauer is Professor of Psychology at University of Dayton. His research examines how people construct their life stories in ways that facilitate human flourishing. He has authored The Transformative Self: Identity, Growth, and a Good Life Story (Oxford, forthcoming) and co-edited Transcending Self-Interest: Psychological Explorations of the Quiet Ego (APA Books).

Peggy DesAutels

Peggy DesAutels is Professor of Philosophy at University of Dayton. Her publications have focused on moral psychology, neuroethics, and feminist ethics. Her books include Feminists Doing Ethics; Moral Psychology: Feminist Ethics and Social Theory and Global Feminist Ethics.