These four interesting papers attempt, in the authors’ words, to go beyond attachment. Attachment... more These four interesting papers attempt, in the authors’ words, to go beyond attachment. Attachment is seen as overly focused on the mother‐child relationship, thereby neglecting other developmental frameworks, including social networks and multiple significant others. Although the four papers raise crucial issues about the contexts of human development, they are – as is so much research on human development –
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Sep 1, 2002
This study classified for resemblance 102 preschool children, who were described by their nursery... more This study classified for resemblance 102 preschool children, who were described by their nursery school teachers using the California Child Q-sort. Inverse (Q) factor analysis identified three personality prototypes initially defined in terms of ego resiliency and ego undercontrol: overcontrolled resilient, resilient under-controlled, and brittle. These personality prototypes showed strong to moderate similarity with typologies obtained in comparable studies and theoretical meaningful relations with experimental measures of ego functioning and IQ. Ten years later, as adolescents, overcontrolled resilients were shy and restrained yet conscientious and intelligent; resilient undercontrollers were extraverted, assertive, and impulsive; and brittles were relatively unintelligent. The discussion focused on the several meanings of person-centered methods, the sample-dependence of personality typologies, and the complementary contributions made by person versus variable-centered analytical strategies in the study of human development.
... assessed characteris-tics denoting family harmony, including cross-generational consensus on ... more ... assessed characteris-tics denoting family harmony, including cross-generational consensus on values, marital satisfaction, and effective parenting (J. H. Block et al., 1981; Deal, Halverson, & Wampler, 1989; Stoneman, Brody, & Burke, 1989; Vaughn, JH Block, & J. Block, 1988 ...
This study introduces a cultural theme analysis to assess within–culture variation in attachment,... more This study introduces a cultural theme analysis to assess within–culture variation in attachment, with special emphasis on asymmetry in Japanese marital roles. Thirty–nine young urban married Japanese couples were interviewed using a modification of the Adult Attachment Interview. The participants also described their marital experiences, viewed both from their own and from their spouse”s perspective, and the ego resiliency of their child. Husbands” attachment strategies vis–à–vis their parents and their adherence to the marital asymmetry theme conjointly influenced their marital attachment security. The secure husband’s strategy seemed to be enhanced by using his “motherly” wife as a secure base, thereby leading to higher marital attachment security. In contrast, the dismissing husband—when adhering to the marital asymmetry theme—appeared to further intensify deactivating strategies by downplaying the emotional significance of his motherly wife. Thus the marital asymmetry theme appears to have different psychological implications for Japanese husbands, depending on their attachment strategies (secure versus dismissive). Conceptual and methodological issues in the study of adult attachment from a cultural perspective are discussed.
ABSTRACT "Measuring the Home Environments of Children in Early Adolescence" des... more ABSTRACT "Measuring the Home Environments of Children in Early Adolescence" describes the development of a scale that is to be used with adolescents from different "ethnic groups": African Americans, Chinese Americans, European Americans, Mexican Americans, and Dominican Americans.1 The previous Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) scales have proven very useful. The scale presented in the target article is likely to find wide usage and to contribute importantly to our knowledge of adolescents' home environments.
The longitudinal implications of age-18 dysphoric mood were evaluated in 23-year-old young adults... more The longitudinal implications of age-18 dysphoric mood were evaluated in 23-year-old young adults using a prospective multidata, multi-informant design. Dysphoric mood was measured using both initial Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) scores and residual CES-D scores from which the contributions of concurrent age-18 anxiety and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) IQ were partialed. Elevated initial CES-D scores predicted chronic depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation in both genders. In young men, initial CES--D scores were also prospectively related to observer evaluations of interpersonal antagonism, repressive tendencies, anxious self-preoccupation, undercontrol of impulse as well as to self-reported hostility and anger. In young women, initial CES-D scores were also prospectively related to both observer- and self-report of anxious self-preoccupation as well as to self-reported interpersonal antagonism, low self-esteem, and insecure romantic attachment. Once the co...
Personality and intelligence associated with depressive symptoms in 23-year-olds were evaluated u... more Personality and intelligence associated with depressive symptoms in 23-year-olds were evaluated using prospective data from preschool through adolescence. Gender moderated the prospective relations between personality/intelligence and age-23 depressive symptoms. Young men with elevated age-23 General Behavior Inventory (GBI) scores manifested as early as in preschool allocentric behaviors: undersocialization and interpersonal antagonism. This pattern remained highly stable over the following 15 years. Prospective correlates of depressive symptoms in young women--not reliably identified until adolescence--were more likely than in young men to express autocentric concerns: oversocialization and introspective concern with self. These gender differences continued to persist but decreased in strength after puberty. Intellectual competence displayed significantly stronger negative correlations with age-23 GBI scores in males than in females. Findings were discussed in terms of gender differences in the development of chronic depressive symptoms, with special emphasis on equifinality in developmental pathways.
These four interesting papers attempt, in the authors’ words, to go beyond attachment. Attachment... more These four interesting papers attempt, in the authors’ words, to go beyond attachment. Attachment is seen as overly focused on the mother‐child relationship, thereby neglecting other developmental frameworks, including social networks and multiple significant others. Although the four papers raise crucial issues about the contexts of human development, they are – as is so much research on human development –
Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, Sep 1, 2002
This study classified for resemblance 102 preschool children, who were described by their nursery... more This study classified for resemblance 102 preschool children, who were described by their nursery school teachers using the California Child Q-sort. Inverse (Q) factor analysis identified three personality prototypes initially defined in terms of ego resiliency and ego undercontrol: overcontrolled resilient, resilient under-controlled, and brittle. These personality prototypes showed strong to moderate similarity with typologies obtained in comparable studies and theoretical meaningful relations with experimental measures of ego functioning and IQ. Ten years later, as adolescents, overcontrolled resilients were shy and restrained yet conscientious and intelligent; resilient undercontrollers were extraverted, assertive, and impulsive; and brittles were relatively unintelligent. The discussion focused on the several meanings of person-centered methods, the sample-dependence of personality typologies, and the complementary contributions made by person versus variable-centered analytical strategies in the study of human development.
... assessed characteris-tics denoting family harmony, including cross-generational consensus on ... more ... assessed characteris-tics denoting family harmony, including cross-generational consensus on values, marital satisfaction, and effective parenting (J. H. Block et al., 1981; Deal, Halverson, & Wampler, 1989; Stoneman, Brody, & Burke, 1989; Vaughn, JH Block, & J. Block, 1988 ...
This study introduces a cultural theme analysis to assess within–culture variation in attachment,... more This study introduces a cultural theme analysis to assess within–culture variation in attachment, with special emphasis on asymmetry in Japanese marital roles. Thirty–nine young urban married Japanese couples were interviewed using a modification of the Adult Attachment Interview. The participants also described their marital experiences, viewed both from their own and from their spouse”s perspective, and the ego resiliency of their child. Husbands” attachment strategies vis–à–vis their parents and their adherence to the marital asymmetry theme conjointly influenced their marital attachment security. The secure husband’s strategy seemed to be enhanced by using his “motherly” wife as a secure base, thereby leading to higher marital attachment security. In contrast, the dismissing husband—when adhering to the marital asymmetry theme—appeared to further intensify deactivating strategies by downplaying the emotional significance of his motherly wife. Thus the marital asymmetry theme appears to have different psychological implications for Japanese husbands, depending on their attachment strategies (secure versus dismissive). Conceptual and methodological issues in the study of adult attachment from a cultural perspective are discussed.
ABSTRACT "Measuring the Home Environments of Children in Early Adolescence" des... more ABSTRACT "Measuring the Home Environments of Children in Early Adolescence" describes the development of a scale that is to be used with adolescents from different "ethnic groups": African Americans, Chinese Americans, European Americans, Mexican Americans, and Dominican Americans.1 The previous Home Observation for Measurement of the Environment (HOME) scales have proven very useful. The scale presented in the target article is likely to find wide usage and to contribute importantly to our knowledge of adolescents' home environments.
The longitudinal implications of age-18 dysphoric mood were evaluated in 23-year-old young adults... more The longitudinal implications of age-18 dysphoric mood were evaluated in 23-year-old young adults using a prospective multidata, multi-informant design. Dysphoric mood was measured using both initial Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D) scores and residual CES-D scores from which the contributions of concurrent age-18 anxiety and Wechsler Adult Intelligence Scale-Revised (WAIS-R) IQ were partialed. Elevated initial CES-D scores predicted chronic depressive symptoms and suicidal ideation in both genders. In young men, initial CES--D scores were also prospectively related to observer evaluations of interpersonal antagonism, repressive tendencies, anxious self-preoccupation, undercontrol of impulse as well as to self-reported hostility and anger. In young women, initial CES-D scores were also prospectively related to both observer- and self-report of anxious self-preoccupation as well as to self-reported interpersonal antagonism, low self-esteem, and insecure romantic attachment. Once the co...
Personality and intelligence associated with depressive symptoms in 23-year-olds were evaluated u... more Personality and intelligence associated with depressive symptoms in 23-year-olds were evaluated using prospective data from preschool through adolescence. Gender moderated the prospective relations between personality/intelligence and age-23 depressive symptoms. Young men with elevated age-23 General Behavior Inventory (GBI) scores manifested as early as in preschool allocentric behaviors: undersocialization and interpersonal antagonism. This pattern remained highly stable over the following 15 years. Prospective correlates of depressive symptoms in young women--not reliably identified until adolescence--were more likely than in young men to express autocentric concerns: oversocialization and introspective concern with self. These gender differences continued to persist but decreased in strength after puberty. Intellectual competence displayed significantly stronger negative correlations with age-23 GBI scores in males than in females. Findings were discussed in terms of gender differences in the development of chronic depressive symptoms, with special emphasis on equifinality in developmental pathways.
The concept of identity as unitary, stable, and context-independent is being replaced by a view o... more The concept of identity as unitary, stable, and context-independent is being replaced by a view of identity as multiple and context-dependent. In light of this shift, I critically examine how to conceptualize and investigate identities in the age of neoliberalism, in which free-market capitalism accelerates in tandem with numerous social changes, such as increasing privatization, soaring consumerism, outsourcing of jobs, unemployment, escalation of the precariat, as well as the educated underclass. These changes, I argue, have had profound implications for how individuals make sense of their surroundings and themselves. The paper asks how far a nationstate's economic framework can reshape personal subjectivities. I argue that these questions cannot be adequately answered without recognizing that identities and narratives exist within social, political, and economic contexts and without examining 'the victims' of neoliberalism.
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