Karen J. Prager

Disclosure processes in children and adolescents: Patterns and functions of self-disclosure during childhood and adolescence

As the eyes are the “window of the soul,” so too is self-disclosure a window to peoples pressing feelings, thoughts, and concerns. In this chapter, we view the complex interplay between individual development and interpersonal experiences through the window of self-disclosure. We begin with an overview of our conceptual assumptions about the role that self-disclosure plays in the larger processes of individual development and interpersonal relationships. Next we summarize the current literature on developmental changes in patterns of self-disclosure. This summary provides a jumping-off point for the final sections in which we explore possible links between changing patterns of disclosure and concurrent changes in individual development. Self-disclosure and development In this chapter, self-disclosure is seen as part of a larger process in which social interactions shape, and are shaped by, the development of the individual child. Our thinking about these processes represents a marriage of ideas drawn from H. S. Sullivans (1953) “interpersonal theory” of social development and Erik Eriksons (1968) “psychosocial” theory of personality and identity development. (A full discussion of the specific ways that Sullivans and Eriksons ideas are reflected in our thinking is beyond the scope of this chapter. Suffice it to say that our notion of “needed social input and provisions” is similar to Sullivans notion of social needs, whereas our notion of “developmental issues and concerns” is, in spirit, similar to Eriksons notions of “crises” and “preoccupations.”)

Intimacy Status Its Relationship to Locus of Control, Self-Disclosure, and Anxiety in Adults

The purpose of these studies was to determine whether individuals who have afully developed capacity for intimacy, as assessed by an intimacy status interview and rating, could be distinguished from those with lesser capacities based on their locus of control orientation, self-disclosure, and anxiety levels. Study I indicated that women high in depth and commitment in their romantic relationships were more internally orientated than those low in either depth or commitment. A finding of no group differences in self-disclosure was thought to be due to the absence of a specified target for the disclosure. In study 2 target persons were specified. It was found that those with high levels of intimacy development had disclosed more about themselves to their romantic partners than those lower in intimacy development and that highly intimate individuals disclosed more to significant others than to casual acquaintances, whereas less intimate participants did not disclose differentially when communicating to different recipients. It was concluded that highly intimate individuals differ from the less intimate not in their overall self-disclosure levels, but rather in their capacity to be selectively self-revealing with their most significant others. Finally, highly intimate participants reported lower levels of global anxiety than did less intimate participants.

Identity Development and Self-Esteem in Young Women

Summary Identity status and self-esteem were determined for 88 undergraduate college women. Identity status was measured two ways: with the sexual values questions included, and with the ORP (occupational goals, religious ideology, and political ideology) interview alone. Significant differences in self-esteem as measured by the Texas Social Behavior Inventory (TSBI) were found for women in the four identity statuses. These differences were significant on the basis of both methods of identity assessment. Achievement women scored higher than Moratorium and Diffusion women, but not Foreclosure women. Moratorium women had the lowest self-esteem in the sample. Results were discussed as supportive of the notion that achievement of identity is enhancing of self-esteem in women, and that nontraditional areas of identity development are becoming more important determiners of adjustment in women. The differential adaptability of Moratorium and Foreclosure statuses for women was discussed.

Identity development, age, and college experience in women

Abstract Identity status was assessed for 86 undergraduate college women 18 to 23 years old in the areas of occupation, political and religious ideology, and sexual values. Overall identity status showed a significant association with the womens ages and college experience. Achievement women were older and had been in college longer than women in the other statuses, whereas foreclosure women were younger and had been in college fewer years than the other women. Occupational and political identity status were each significantly associated with college experience. No association was found for religious or sexual identity status. The results supported Eriksons (1968) notion that identity achievement is the most mature outcome of the identity crisis and extended his theory to women.

Androgyny, Ego Development and Psychosocial Crisis Resolution.

The present study examined the relationship of psychological androgyny with ego development in the context of Loevingers theory and with psychosocial crisis resolution from the perspective of Eriksons theory. A sample of 30 male and 30 female adults completed the Bem Sex-role Inventory, the Washington University Sentence Completion Test, and the Inventory of Psychosocial Development (IPD). The androgynous individuals were predominate in the higher stages of Loevingers hierarchical model of ego development, with the masculine sex-typed orientation falling between the androgynous and feminine sex-typed groups. The highest scores on psychosocial personality development, as assessed by the IPD, were obtained by those with an androgynous sex-role orientation, followed by those with masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated orientations, in that order. These results support the view that psychological androgyny represents an added adaptive capacity that can be developed in association with the development of higher ego functioning. These findings applied equally to both sexes and all age groups.

Identity status, sex-role orientation, and self-esteem in late adolescent females

Summary Eighty-eight undergraduate women at a large Southwestern university were interviewed to determine their “identity status” (identity Achievement, Moratorium, Foreclosure, Diffusion). They also completed the Personal Attributes Questionnaire to assess their sex-role orientation (androgynous, masculine or feminine sex-typed, or undifferentiated) and the Texas Social Behavior Inventory to measure self-esteem. Masculine sex-typing was associated with identity Achievement, while feminine sex-typing and undifferen-tiatedness were associated with Moratorium and Diffusion. Significant differences among the identity statuses on masculinity were found which were independent of self-esteem, although a high correlation between masculinity and self-esteem was found. No differences among the identity statuses were found on femininity. Findings were interpreted to indicate that high masculinity, but not femininity, was probably associated with successful resolution of the identity crisis in women (identity Achiev...

Development of intimacy in young adults, a multidimensional view

50 female and 37 male adult college students responded to an interview, which permitted subjects to be categorized according to their style of coping with the intimacy crisis of young adulthood. The five categories are intimate, preintimate, pseudointimate, stereotyped relationships, and isolate. Subjects in the five statuses were compared on their levels of emotional, physical and intellectual intimacy as measured by the Holt Intimacy Development Inventory. Women who had achieved depth and commitment in their relationships scored higher on emotional and intellectual intimacy than women whose relationships were uncommitted and superficial. Women in deep and committed relationships were also older than women in uncommitted, superficial relationships, while men in committed relationships were older than uncommitted men, regardless of depth. Results were interpreted as supporting Eriksons concept of intimacy, i.e., that relationships combining depth and commitment are the most mature.

Intimacy and Well-being: A Cross-disciplinary Review

Originally published in Contemporary Psychology: APA Review of Books, 1997, Vol 42(4), 302–302. The reviewer states that during the last 15 years, the literature on intimacy has burgeoned. The impetus, in part, has emanated from the rapidly growing work in related areas that preceded it, specificall

Withdrawal, attachment security, and recovery from conflict in couple relationships:

This study used 115 cohabiting couple partners’ 21-day diaries, with which they reported each evening on their moods and their relationships, to test hypotheses about connections between withdrawal following conflict, attachment insecurity, and affective recovery from conflict (i.e., post-conflict relationship satisfaction, positive and negative mood, and intimacy). Individuals reported on their own and their partners’ post-conflict withdrawals. Results indicated that individuals who withdrew following conflicts, or whose partners withdrew, experienced worse post-conflict affective recoveries, particularly if they intended to punish their partners by withdrawing. Conversely, withdrawing from a punitive partner buffered the individual from some aftereffects of conflict. Support for our hypothesis that anxious attachment would exacerbate effects of withdrawing on recovery was unexpectedly weak. Conclusions address the negative and punishing impact of post-conflict withdrawing on couple partners’ affective recoveries and associations between anxious attachment and post-conflict recovery.