We become entrusted to teach culturally appropriate behaviors, values, attitudes, skills, and information about the world.
Erikson believes that when we reach the adult years, several physical, social, and psychological stimuli trigger a sense of generativity. A central component of this attitude is the desire to care for others. ( ① )
For the majority of people, parenthood is perhaps the most obvious and convenient opportunity to fulfill this desire. ( ② )
Erikson believes that another distinguishing feature of adulthood is the emergence of an inborn desire to teach. ( ③ )
We become aware of this desire when the event of being physically capable of reproducing is joined with the events of participating in a committed relationship, the establishment of an adult pattern of living, and the assumption of job responsibilities. ( ④ )
According to Erikson, by becoming parents we learn that we have the need to be needed by others who depend on our knowledge, protection, and guidance. ( ⑤ )
By assuming the responsibilities of being primary caregivers to children through their long years of physical and social growth, we concretely express what Erikson believes to be an inborn desire to teach.