Browsing by Subject "Separation-individuation"
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Item Attachment, self, and parental acceptance-rejection in relation to adolescent personality(Texas Tech University, 1989-05) Luft, Gary A.Based on a model derived from attachment theory, self psychology, parental acceptance-rejection theory, and a psychoanalytic persective on gender issues, the interrelationships between late adolescents' perception of past attachment to parents, perception of present attachment to parents, perception of past rejection by parents, perception of self, and perception of the impact of relationship disruptions were examined. A sample of 666 college students completed a series of items that assessed their perceptions of present and past attachment to parents, of past rejection by parents, and of themselves. As predicted there was a positive association between present perception of attachment to parents (college years) and perception of past acceptance by parents (high school years). A positive association was also found between perception of relationship disruptions and negative self-concept. A prediction about a negative association between pressent perception of attachment to parents and negative self-concept was also supported. A prediction about the interaction of attachment to other and attachment to father in relation to self-perceived levels of dependency was not tested because of the inadequacy of the dependency measure. In the present study the dependency measure was not related to the other variables in a manner that was conceptually consistent with the theoretical definitions of dependency. Implications for theory and further research are discussed.Item Career maturity and familial independence among college freshmen(Texas Tech University, 1987-08) Thomason, Sharon LOne life stage which merits a great deal of attention from both family and individual theorists is that of late adolescence, when the adolescent begins to leave the home. Family theorists have written extensively about the familial developmental stage in which adolescents begin to leave the home and the effects of poor adjustment to this normal developmental event. Career theorists have also addressed the late adolescent's developmental process. Career development has been addressed as one aspect of general personality development and has empirically been found to be positively related to measures of psychosocial stages of general development and measures of adjustment. Although both independence from the family and career maturity have been described as aspects of general development and both have been related to adjustment, the research has not explored a relationship between them. Therefore, the purpose of the present investigation is to explore the relationship of family development and career development. Based upon the reviewed literature, it was hypothesized that greater career maturity is related to (i.e., significantly and positively correlated with) greater independence from the family of the late adolescent. The Career Development Inventory (CDI) was used to measure career maturity and the Psychological Separation Inventory (PSI) was used to measure independence from parents. The results of t tests indicated that there were gender differences in that females scored higher than males on the CDI subscale "Career Orientation Total," and males scored higher than females on the PSI subscales "Emotional Independence" and "Mother Emotional Independence." Data were, therefore, analyzed separately by gender. The results of multiple regression analyses did not support the hypothesis that independence from parents is positively and significantly correlated with career maturity. For the samples of men and women reported here, neither "Career Development Attitudes" nor "Career Orientation Total" scores are predicted by scores on subtests of the Psychological Separation Inventory. Results are discussed in relation to previous research, theoretical applications, and measurement considerations.Item Diferences in family ritualization: implications for family functioning and the separation and adjustment of late adolescents(Texas Tech University, 1990-08) Hale, Karla KStudies have shown that an emphasis on family rituals may serve the family by promoting cohesiveness, protecting and stabilizing the family during periods of stress and crisis, and fostering and maintaining the family identity. Several family researchers have concluded that family health and strength go hand and hand with a family's establishing a valued set of rituals and traditions. Some theorists have also suggested that rituals provide benefits for the individual members in providing a link with the family during the process of adolescent separation and autonomy development. The present study tested five hypotheses using a sample of 152 male and 183 female freshman college students, late adolescents in the process of separating from their families. These students completed the Family Rituals Measure which assesses ritualization in terms of the importance given to rituals and the flexible adaptation of the rituals practiced. Measures of family cohesion, family functioning, psychological separation, and college adjustment were also administered. Canonical correlations were conducted to assess the effects of ritual commitment and flexibility on the level of cohesion and overall functioning of the family, and on the successful separation and adjustment of members leaving the family. The results indicated that frequency of ritualization, importance placed on rituals, and the flexibility of rituals were all positively associated with family cohesion and healthy functioning, correlating with expressiveness, organization, and low family conflict. Family ritualization was not highly predictive of psychological separateness or college adjustment. However, the combination of ritual commitment and flexibility with healthy family functioning produced a significant association with psychological separation, with conflicting subscale results. These conflicting results concerning the assessment of psychological separation and the role of rituals in the separation process are discussed. Conclusions are drawn regarding the benefits of rituals for the family and individual members based on the findings, with suggestions for further research.Item Family relationships and social competence during late adolescence: a longitudinal study(Texas Tech University, 1988-12) Sun, Sheh-weiThis study examined the associations between family relationships and social competence at two different points of time during late adolescence. Three hypotheses were formulated: (1) the association between family relationships and social competence is stronger at time 1 than at time 2; (2) family relationships at time 1 are positively related to social competence at time 2; (3) family relationship variables are more important than family structure variables in predicting social competence at both times of measurement. Gender differences in changes in family relationships and social competence over time were also explored. Questionnaires were first completed by 1,437 freshman students at the University of Arizona during summer preregistration or during fall semester, 1980. A total of 225 students (86 males, 139 females) at the University of Arizona were recontacted during spring semester, 1984. The family relationship measures included closeness to father, closeness to mother, low parental intrusiveness, and contentment at home. The social competence measures included social self-esteem/social competence, masculinity, femininity, shyness, satisfaction and importance of opposite-sex relationships, and satisfaction and importance of same-sex relationships. A series of canonical correlation analyses were performed to test the three hypotheses for males and females separately. A series of correlated sample t-tests and one-way analyses of variance were performed to examine gender differences in changes in family relationships and social competence over time. Overall, the results supported the first hypothesis for males, the second hypothesis for females, and the third hypothesis for both. There were also notable gender differences in family relationships and social competence over time. Taken together, these results suggest that males and females have different experiences in separating from the family. For males, after leaving home, family ties gradually diminish, for females, family ties are more strongly maintained. However, for all students, there were positive correlations between family relationships and social competence during both time periods. Recommendations for future research include developmental studies which examine the sequence and characteristics of the parent-adolescent separation process for males and females, studies which examine the parent-adolescent separation process with a more diverse late adolescent population, and studies which explore additional qualitative aspects of the parent-adolescent relationships in association with adolescent developmental characteristics.