Off-campus UNL users: To download campus access dissertations, please use the following link to log into our proxy server with your NU ID and password. When you are done browsing please remember to return to this page and log out.
Non-UNL users: Please talk to your librarian about requesting this dissertation through interlibrary loan.
Adolescent psychological separation-individuation and the identity formation process
Abstract
Adolescence is a period of intense preparation for the responsibilities of adulthood. The passage into adulthood is marked by the completion of a series of developmental tasks that involve the integration of the four areas of development that society delineates as being related to maturity, that is, physiological, psychological, intellectual and sociocultural development. Two of the major tasks of this period are psychological separation-individuation and the resolution of the identity crisis. Psychological separation-individuation is the process by which the young adult renegotiates the parent-child relationship. The resolution of the identity crisis involves the synthesis of past and present, as the adolescent reintegrates the self in such a manner that allows the young adult to assume his or her place in society. Both processes are a vital part of the drive towards healthy personal adjustment. This study investigated the relationship of adolescent psychological separation-individuation and the identity formation process. Psychological separation-individuation and the identity formation process are examined for gender differences. Lastly, psychological separation-individuation and the identity formation process are examined as a function of age, gender, residence, financial status, employment and home leaving attitudes. Unmarried adolescents between the ages of 18 and 24 completed a sixteen page booklet containing three measures: the Psychological Separation Inventory (PSI); the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (EOM-EIS-2); and the Home Leaving Attitude (HLA). A significant relationship was found between specific factors of psychological separation-individuation and the identity formation process. Significant gender differences were found in the interaction of psychological separation-individuation and identity formation. Although no significant relationship was found between the variables of residence, financial status, employment and home leaving attitudes and identity formation, significant relationships were found between these variables and psychological separation-individuation.
Subject Area
Educational psychology|Developmental psychology
Recommended Citation
Medlin, Nadine Marie, "Adolescent psychological separation-individuation and the identity formation process" (1991). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9133306.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9133306