The specificity of family functioning in the perception of adolescents and young adults and their identity formation Cover Image

Specyfika funkcjonowania rodziny w percepcji adolescentów i młodych dorosłych a formowanie się ich tożsamości
The specificity of family functioning in the perception of adolescents and young adults and their identity formation

Author(s): Monika Wysota, Aleksandra Pilarska, Katarzyna Adamczyk
Subject(s): Psychology
Published by: Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Jagiellońskiego
Keywords: identity; identity dimensions; family system; cohesion; flexibility; communication; adolescents; young adults

Summary/Abstract: Previous studies on the impact of family factors on the identity formation process have focused on various aspects of family environment such as parental behavior (Romano, 2004), parental control (Luyckx et al., 2007), parental support and the quality of relationships between adolescents and their parents (Liberska, 2004), and the level of development of parents’ identity (Syed, Seiffge-Krenke, 2012). The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between identity processes and dimensions of family functioning (i.e. cohesion, flexibility, and communication) in the perception of adolescents and young adults. The sample consisted of 119 high school and university students (72 women and 47 men) who completed the Polish versions of Flexibility and Cohesion Evaluation Scales (FACES IV; Olson, 2011), and Dimensions of Identity Development Scale (DIDS; Luyckx et al., 2008). The correlation analysis and ANOVA test showed that different levels and different configurations of family environment characteristics are associated with identity formation processes in young people. The results also suggest that the observed relationship between different aspects of family functioning and identity dimensions changes with sex. At the same time, the obtained pattern of correlations in the current study was less systematic than it was expected on the basis of literature, and the directions of these correlations were not always congruent with predictions.

  • Issue Year: 19/2014
  • Issue No: 2
  • Page Range: 103-120
  • Page Count: 18
  • Language: Polish