RAMONA FAITH OSWALD University of Illinois at Urbana Champaign BRIAN P. MASCIADRELLI State University of New York at Fredonia* Generative Ritual Among Nonmetropolitan Lesbians and Gay Men: Promoting Social Inclusion Generativity is typically studied as a normative adult inclination expressed through social roles (D.P. McAdams & E. de St. Aubin, 1992). We extend this research by examining generativity through the lenses of social marginality and rit- ual. Toward this end, we utilize in-depth inter- view and observational data about family rituals from 49 downstate Illinois residents who participated in a larger survey of nonmetropoli- tan lesbian and gay life. We first examine their ritual intentions and the locations where they are enacted. Then we identify what makes the rituals generative and identify their facilitating and moderating conditions. The findings sug- gest a distinction between normative and queer generativity. Our final product is a substantive grounded theory of generativity among sexual minorities that extends current theory. Generativity has been described as the central activity of adulthood (Erikson, 1964). In the nar- rowest sense, generativity is concern for directly supporting and caring for the growth and devel- opment of younger generations (Erikson, 1964). More broadly, generativity is concerned with cre- ating and maintaining societal and community in- stitutions for current and future generations (Erikson, 1964; Kotre, 1984/1996; McAdams & de St. Aubin, 1992). To summarize McAdams and de St. Aubin’s (1992) elaboration of Erikson (1964), generative individuals feel compelled to act as a result of both internal and external forces, and then do act in ways that promote the well-being of spe- cific and general others. Further, they integrate generativity into their sense of self by telling life stories that contain generative themes. Building on previous typologies of generativity (e.g., Kotre, 1984/1996), McAdams and de St. Aubin identified five different ways of accomplishing generativity: creating (making things, initiating actions), maintaining (sustaining things already created), offering (giving of one’s own self or belongings), next generation (helping younger people accomplish something), and symbolic immortality (leaving a legacy). Generativity is produced by interactions between a person and her environment. Internal forces that promote generativity are inner de- sires to help others; external forces are cultural demands that push individuals to pursue norma- tive adult roles (McAdams & de St. Aubin, 1992). Indeed, Erikson (1964, p. 130) called parenting ‘‘the prime generative encounter.’’ Not surprisingly, most family scholarship exam- ines generativity within normative roles, such as mother (e.g., McKeering & Pakenham, 2000), father (e.g., Palkovitz, Copes, & Woolfolk, Department of Human and Community Development, 263 Bevier Hall, 905 South Goodwin, Urbana, IL 61801 (ros- wald@uiuc.edu). *Department of Sociology, Anthropology, Social Work, and Criminal Justice, W377 Thompson Hall, SUNY Fredonia, Fredonia, NY 14063. This article edited by Ralph LaRossa. Key Words: adult development and aging, community, family rituals, gay, grounded theory, lesbian, midlife. 1060 Journal of Marriage and Family 70 (November 2008): 1060–1073