The purpose of the present study was to examine differentiation of self (Bowen, 1985) as a predictor of involvement in specific extramarital behaviors. Data were collected from 125 graduates of a comprehensive state university in southeastern United States. The sample was primarily caucasian, college educated, married, politically moderate to slightly conservative, equally divided by gender and ranged in age from 25 to 87 years (M = age 43). Differentiation of self was operationalized and measured by the Differentiation of Self Inventory (Skowron & Friedlander, 1998). Logistical regression analyses regressed involvement in specific extramarital behaviors upon the level of differentiation of self as measured by the Differentiation of Self Inventory. The level of differentiation did not significantly predict the likelihood of involvement in any specific extramarital behavior. Among females, however, differentiation was positively but not significantly associated with the likelihood of involvement in most of the specific extramarital behaviors examined by the study. For females, differentiation did significantly predict the likelihood of having an experience kissing some one other than a spouse while married. / Ph. D.

Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Amber V. Vennum / Sexual desire is important to personal and relational well-being but inevitably declines over time in committed relationships. Individuals, further, commonly report times when they desire more or less sex than their partners (desire discrepancy) which is negatively associated with both relationship and sexual satisfaction. How partner’s make meaning out of (i.e., attributions about their partner’s lower desire for sex) and respond (pursue, withdraw or engage) to moments of discrepant desire is likely influenced by the extent to which partners are able to maintain a clear sense of self in the context of physical and emotional closeness (i.e., their level of differentiation), although this has yet to be tested. Through two studies, I explored the types of attributions and behaviors in response to desire discrepancies and how negative attributions and behaviors mediate the link between differentiation and sexual desire. Specifically in Study 1, I analyzed open-ended responses from 463 participants, using deductive content analysis to examine types of negative attributions and behaviors in response to moments of desire discrepancy. In Study 2, using the findings from Study 1, I developed items to quantitatively measure specific negative attributions and behaviors in response to desire discrepancies. Using a sample of 511 participants, I refined the factor structure of the Desire Discrepancy Attributions and Behaviors Scale and used a path analysis to examine how differentiation is associated with sexual desire both directly and indirectly through negative attributions, emotions, and behaviors (pursue-withdraw). Results indicated that an individual’s level of differentiation is positively associated with sexual desire and this link is significantly mediated by negative attributions and certain negative behaviors. The clinical implications and areas for future research based on the findings of this study are discussed.

Doctor of Philosophy / School of Family Studies and Human Services / Amber V. Vennum / Sexual desire is important to personal and relational well-being but inevitably declines over time in committed relationships. Individuals, further, commonly report times when they desire more or less sex than their partners (desire discrepancy) which is negatively associated with both relationship and sexual satisfaction. How partner’s make meaning out of (i.e., attributions about their partner’s lower desire for sex) and respond (pursue, withdraw or engage) to moments of discrepant desire is likely influenced by the extent to which partners are able to maintain a clear sense of self in the context of physical and emotional closeness (i.e., their level of differentiation), although this has yet to be tested. Through two studies, I explored the types of attributions and behaviors in response to desire discrepancies and how negative attributions and behaviors mediate the link between differentiation and sexual desire. Specifically in Study 1, I analyzed open-ended responses from 463 participants, using deductive content analysis to examine types of negative attributions and behaviors in response to moments of desire discrepancy. In Study 2, using the findings from Study 1, I developed items to quantitatively measure specific negative attributions and behaviors in response to desire discrepancies. Using a sample of 511 participants, I refined the factor structure of the Desire Discrepancy Attributions and Behaviors Scale and used a path analysis to examine how differentiation is associated with sexual desire both directly and indirectly through negative attributions, emotions, and behaviors (pursue-withdraw). Results indicated that an individual’s level of differentiation is positively associated with sexual desire and this link is significantly mediated by negative attributions and certain negative behaviors. The clinical implications and areas for future research based on the findings of this study are discussed.

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Anxiety is a prevalent health concern for emerging adults and the top concern for those seeking mental health treatment. The purpose of this study was to investigate the features of emerging adulthood (i.e., identity exploration, feelings of optimism about possibilities, instability, selfocus, and feeling in-between), which may be predictive of anxiety symptoms, as well as explore factors (i.e., differentiation of self and social comparison orientation using social media), which may intensify or lessen the anxiety symptoms. The study sample included 598 emerging adults between the ages of 18 and 25. The results of this study suggested that identity exploration, instability, and feeling in-between contribute to higher anxiety symptoms. While higher differentiation of self can be a strength in emerging adulthood, and is associated with lower anxiety, higher social comparison orientation may serve as a risk factor, as it is associated with higher anxiety symptoms. Social comparison orientation using social media was also found to moderate the relationship between optimism about possibilities and anxiety. Specifically, at higher levels of social comparison orientation using social media, increased optimism about possibilities predicted higher anxiety. At lower levels of social comparison orientation using social media, increased optimism about possibilities predicted lower anxiety. These findings have implications for clinicians and educational professionals working with the emerging adult population.

The purpose of this study was to examine differences in the changes in levels of differentiation, as measured by the Differentiation of Self Inventory (DSI) (Knauth & Skowron, 2004), that occurred among high school students who participated in a semester-long (n = 69) and year-long (n = 119) AFS (formerly known as American Field Service) program and a control group (n = 75) that did not study abroad. Gender of student and level of individualism of host country were also examined. The DSI full scale and four subscales: emotional reactivity, I position, emotional cutoff, and fusion with others were used to assess levels of differentiation. This study was a non-equivalent control group experimental pretest-posttest design. Pretest scores were used as the covariate in the posttest ANCOVA. Results revealed that female students who studied abroad for both one year and one semester experienced significant increases in levels of differentiation as measured by the DSI full scale versus female students who did not study abroad. There were no significant differences among males who studied abroad for one year, one semester or not at all. Additional results indicate a significant difference in changes in level of differentiation, as measured by the DSI full scale, between genders in the control group and the semester abroad group. Additional gender differences were revealed on the emotional reactivity and fusion with others subscales. Level of host country's individualism was not a significant factor. Results support previous literature which states that males and females engage in differing processes when forming their identity. Results also demonstrate that studying abroad is a meaningful life experience significant enough to assist females with increasing levels of differentiation. Additional results, a discussion of the results, limitations, and implications for practice and research are also provided. / Ph. D.

Parental psychological control has been found to be associated with both internalized and externalized problems for youth and adolescents. Research contributing to an understanding of the possible antecedents of parental psychological control is both limited and of need; specifically regarding parents' psychological attributes. This study sample included 323 two-parent families and an identified target child from each family. Bowen's theory of family systems, [chronic] stress, and differentiation of self and its relation to parental psychological control was examined. Differentiation of self was hypothesized to mediate the relationship between chronic stress and parental psychological control. Differentiation was conceptualized and measured using two subscales assessing emotional reactivity and emotional cutoff. Fathers and mothers were included in the same model to assess for potential partner influences as well possible gender differences. Parental age, parental education, and family income were also included as control variables. Study analyses included bivariate correlations, independent T-tests, and structural path models; all based on study variables constructed in a structural equation measurement model. To test for mediation by differentiation of self, an initial structural model examining the relationship between levels of parental chronic stress and parental psychological control was utilized. Only paternal chronic stress and paternal education predicted child-reported levels of parental psychological control. Parent-reported levels of differentiation of self, when included in a structural path model, did not mediate the relationship between chronic stress and psychological control but did have a significant indirect effect on this relationship. Both maternal and paternal chronic stress significantly predicted individual parental levels of emotional reactivity and emotional cutoff. Systemically, maternal levels of emotional cutoff predicted paternal levels of parental psychological control and paternal levels of emotional reactivity predicted maternal levels of parental psychological control. No control variables other than paternal education had a salient, significant, or interpretable effect on endogenous study variables (differentiation of self and parental psychological control). Paternal and maternal levels of emotional reactivity appeared to partially mediate the relationship between paternal education and maternal psychological control. Interpretation for results, study limitations and future directions, and clinical implications are discussed.

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Pornography use is fairly common in today's society, which suggests that one or even both partners of many couple relationships may use pornography. Persons with high or low levels of differentiation of self may experience relationship attachment and sexual satisfaction differently depending on their partner's pornography use. On one hand, those with high differentiation may view a partner's pornography use as the partner's issue. On the other hand, those with low differentiation may view their partner's pornography use as something they are responsible for or need to change. Using data from 1,665 couples across the United States from Wave 6 of the CREATE study, actor-partner interdependence models were estimated to examine how husband and wife pornography use was associated with reports from each about their relationship attachment and sexual satisfaction, moderated by differentiation of self. Results suggest that pornography use was associated with lower attachment behaviors and sexual satisfaction for the person using it, but not for their partner. Using pornography with a partner more than on one's own was associated with higher sexual satisfaction than using it alone. Couples where neither partner used pornography had higher attachment behaviors and sexual satisfaction than those where either partner used any pornography. Differentiation of self consistently predicted higher attachment behaviors and sexual satisfaction, but only moderated the relationship between pornography use and marital outcomes in one instance. Results imply that pornography use relates to marital outcomes differently depending on whether a higher proportion of use is solitary or joint, and using no pornography was associated with better marital outcomes.

The aim of the present study was to explore the associations between different types of orientations toward materialism, and to investigate the relationship between materialistic orientations and different self-construal types as suggested by the Balanced Integration and Differentiation (BID) Model (imamoglu, 1998, 2003). The sample was consisted of 335 Middle East Technical University students (168 females, 167 males) with a mean age of 21.34. The questionnaire consisted of eight scales that were used to measure materialism, self-construals, family environment, attachment, and self and family satisfaction. The scales were Material Values Scale (Richins &amp / Dawson, 1992), Aspiration Index (Kasser &amp / Ryan, 1996), the New Materialism Scale which was developed for the current study, Balanced Integration and Differentiation Scale (BIDS, Imamoglu, 1998), Perceived Family Atmosphere Scale (Imamoglu, 2001), Family Satisfaction Index, and Self Satisfaction Index (Imamoglu, 2001) as well as the Relationship Questionnaire (Bartholomew &amp / Horowitz, 1991). Through the analyses on the data from the New Materialism scale, that had acceptable psychometric qualities, four sub-constructs of materialism were found that are extrinsic orientations, acquisitiveness, attachment to possessions, and sharing. Both MANOVA and regression analyses were performed and it was seen that respondents with related-individuated and separated-patterned self-types, proposed by the BID Model to represent the most balanced and unbalanced self-types, respectively, significantly differed from each other in terms of materialism score ratings measured by Material Values Scale and New Materialism scale. The people with the unbalanced type seemed to be more oriented towards materialism compared to the ones with the balanced type. While lower levels of individuation predicted higher levels of materialism for all materialism measures except attachment to possessions, the lower levels of relatedness predicted higher levels of materialism in terms of happiness, the belief that happiness can be gained through possessions, and sharing, the degree of unwillingness to share one&rsquo / s possessions with other people. Considering gender, women are found to be more acquisitive, giving a central importance to possessions and more interested in image as an aspiration. Through the analysis of the relationship patterns using SEM, a model was proposed for the relationships between different types of materialism, self orientations, and gender. Three different types of materialism, i.e. existential materialism, relational materialism, and indulgent materialism, were generated. Low levels of individuation predicted all three types of materialism. Low levels of relatedness predicted only relational materialism, whereas being woman predicted indulgent materialism. Theoretical implications of these findings are discussed in the framework of the BID Model.