Abstract
This investigation specified three models regarding the association between identity and intimacy formation and investigated their potential validity using a longitudinal cross-lag panel design. Seventy-one males and 71 females completed identity and intimacy measures on two occasions over a 5-week period. The primary findings are (1) individuals with a clear sense of identity are more likely, 5 weeks later, to have a more advanced sense of intimacy for both sexes when sex-role identification is removed from gender comparisons; (2) sex-role orientation mediates the identity/intimacy association, while for females, a masculine orientation is associated with a pattern similar to that observed for either masculine- or feminine-oriented males; and (3) femininity is associated with a more fused connection between identity and intimacy for females. This report provides an initial investigation studying the identity/intimacy association during late adolescence based on three theoretical perspectives. Theoretical interpretations and conclusions are offered.
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Partial support for this project was provided by grants to the second author from the Utah State University Agricultural Experiment Station and the Office of Research, Utah State University. Approved as journal paper No. 3917.
Research interests are adolescent identity development in the family context, adolescent sexuality, and sex-role development.
Research interests focus on personality and social development during adolescence.
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Dyk, P.H., Adams, G.R. Identity and intimacy: An initial investigation of three theoretical models using cross-lag panel correlations. J Youth Adolescence 19, 91–110 (1990). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01538715
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01538715