.4 .. .lt..er. .1. . .Xu41..rtvvvl:t. . 4.35931 11:.4 ,. l V. 3. b . . w . . :11?! 2.7,- $4.1. ....1._4 ....y I... .. €72 .. ~44)“ d K Y M'Cblgan State ‘31“?ij a " WW This is to certify that the thesis entitled &//€‘/C'/DOM¢&V W[[. 1515/“ Ah’, presented by figzqnwé . ;‘M,M. 5,475 has been accepted towards fulfillment of the requiremen/t/sgor f4 ’3‘ degreein ' 5:7 [La/07 0 7 ‘) A fl ’7 X4] /£’. Jééd 77.426677, iii/C Major professox Date é/flg/7 } 0-7639 OVERDUE FINES ARE 25¢ PER DAY PER ITEM Return to book drop to remove this checkout from your record. n. I. 3% r _MLO3 ‘_ 9 £21m 6 11997 a COLLEGE WOMEN AND IDENTITY BY Susanne Sommers A DISSERTATION Submitted to Michigan State University in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY Department of Psychology 1979 ABSTRACT COLLEGE WOMEN AND IDENTITY by Susanne Sommers This study is concerned with a number of issues related to identity formation among college women. As conceptualized by Erikson (1968), this life-long process of self definition and re-definition includes a series of critical junctures during which specific developmental tasks become particularly salient. Existing empirical evidence (e.g., Constantinople, 1969; Marcia and Friedman, 1970; Marcia and Toder, 1973) based on college samples indicates that this process may be more problematic for women than for men. Subjects were 106 female MQS.U. students who responded to a number of paper-and-pencil instruments: a demographic questionnaire, an Eriksonian-based identity measure, and the Ben Sex Role Inventory. Also included were a "happy woman" projective instrument, designed to assess what these women perceived as important components of their identity as adults, and an objective-choice question concerned with how subjects envisioned thmselves balancing the demands of childcare with the demands of employment outside the home. Questions addressed in this study included the impact of a psychology of women course upon the course participants"identity scores, their scores on the Ben Sex Role Inventory, and the content of their "happy woman" stories. This course dealt specifically with identity issues of Susanne Sommers importance to women and also offered its participants opportunities to discuss these issues among themselves. A secondary set of questions (so labeled because subject selection precluded adequate testing of the hypotheses) involved the impact of educational level upon these same variables. Finally, the question concerning the relationship between subjects' identity scores and their BSRI scores was considered. Results indicated that participation in the psychology of women course was not significantly related to subjects' identity scores, their BSRI scores, or the content of the happy woman stories (assessment was conducted on different groups of subjects at the beginning and at the end of the course). There was a tendency, however, toward better, although statistically insignificant, identity scores among the women assessed at the end of the course, as compared with control group women enrolled in an introductory psychology course. Although the women comprising the four educational groups were non- randomly selected subjects, the results regarding educational level tended to confirm previous empirical findings of better identity achievement among senior women (in this case, all declared psychology majors enrolled in psychology of women courses), particularly when compared with freshmen. Educational level was not related to subjects' scores on the BSRI. Subjects' scores on the Eriksonian-based identity measure were found to be significantly related to scores on the Dem Sex Role Inven- tory. The tendency was for androgynous women (who scored high on both the Masculine and the Feminine scales of the BSRI) and sometimes, Susanne Sommers masculine-oriented women (who scored high on the Masculine scale and low on the Feminine scale) to score better in terms of relative identity achievement. As regards these women's perceptions of that which_is important to their identity as adults: analysis of the projective stories indicated that for the majority of these subjects, having it all—-marriage, children, and a career--is now the ideal model for having successfully addressed the issues of love and work. Despite this ideal (which appears to reflect a modified version of the traditional feminine role), many of these same women indicated their willingness to interrupt their careers in order to care for their young children. The majority of subjects also indicated their awareness of some of the risks associated with this choice. The few content differences in the happy woman stories were found among the-stories of the senior women. These stories contained more frequent references to the importance of feeling successful at work, of feeling free to pursue other than the traditional feminine role, and of successfully having confronted and/or resolved issues pertaining to one's identity. This same group of women (again, all psychology majors enrolled in women's courses) also departed from the majority response to the objective choice question. Unlike the majority of subjects, who envisioned themselves stoPping work in order to stay home with their young children, these women often envisioned themselves as foregoing having children altogether. Suggestions for future research included the continued examination of the relationship between level of ego functioning and sex role orien- tation. Also offered was a reconsideration of the Eriksonian-based identity measure and its applicability to the assessment of women. For Roberta Muldoon and the Under Toad ii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank: The members of my committee: Drs. Jeanne Gullahorn, Donald Grumman, and Barbara Reimer... My mother, the late Beverly R. Sommers (finally made it, Mom)... My father, the present John P. Sommers (such a fine Jewish mother...just wouldn't stop until he had a lawyer and a doctor)... My brother, Scott R. Sommers, the aforementioned attorney... Joanne Sommers... Joanne Hamachek... Al Hammer, for his statistical assistance... The 106.women who gave of their energy and thought as subjects... And most especially, Dr. Elaine Donelson, chairperson, for her considerable time, guidance, expertise, and unwavering insistence that I do this thing right.... If not the first time, then the second.... If not the second, then surely, the third.... iii TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF TABLES I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O . v I 0 REVIEW OF LITEMTURE O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 1 A Developmental Framework . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . l WOmen and Identity Achievement: Locating Oneself in an Ideology . . . . . . . . . . . 9 WOmen, Work, and Achievement: Locating Oneself in an Anticipated Occupation . . . . 14 The Concept of Psychological Androgyny: Locating Oneself in a Sex Role . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Statement of the Problem . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25 II. METHODS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36 subj acts 0 O O O O O I. O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 36 Instruments . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39 Analysis . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51 III 0 RESULTS 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 55 Subjects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55 Hypotheses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58 Story Data 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O C 72 IV. DISCUSSION 0 O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O I O O O 87 BIBLIOGMPHY O O O O O O O O O I O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 111 APPENDICES O O O O O C O O O O O O O O O C O O O O O O C O O 117 iv Table 10 ll 12 13 14 15 LIST OF TABLES Erikson's Epigenetic Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Reliabilities of the Subscales of the Eriksonian Identity Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Means, Standard Deviations, and Ranges on Identity Subscales For the Entire Sample . . . . . . . . . . . . Correlations Among Identity Subscales and the M and F Scales of the Bem.Sex Role Inventory . . . . . Frequencies of Sex Role Categories . . . . . . . . . . Items Included in the Analysis of the "Happy WOman" Stories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Comparison of Eriksonian Subscale Means with the Means of Three Years of the Constantinople (1969) Study . . . Identity Subscales: IUnivariate F Tests for the Pre—'. Course Experimental (Gr. 1) Group and the Pre-Course Control (Gr. 2) Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Identity Subscales: Means and Standard Deviations for the Experimental and Control Groups . . . . . . . . Identity Subscales: Univariate F Tests for the Post- Course Experimental (Gr. 3) Group and the Post-Course Control (Gr. 4) Group . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chi Square Contingency Table: Androgyny Frequencies by Group . . . . . . . . ._. . . . . . . . Identity Subscales: Means and Standard Deviations by Educat ional Level D O O O O I O O O O O O O O I O 0 Identity Subscales: Univariate F Tests as Regards Educational Levels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Identity Subscales and Educational Levels: Comparisons Among Groups, . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . Chi Square Contingency Table: Androgyny Frequencies by Educational Level . . . . . . . . . . . 41 42 43 47 49 57 6O 60 62 63 64 65 66 68 Table 16 Identity Subscales: Univariate F Tests As Regards Sex Role Categories . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17 Means and Standard Deviations for Identity Subscales by Sex Role Category . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18 Comparison Among Sex Role Groups on Subscales of Identity Measure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Story Data: "Success" Item by Group . . . . . . . . 20 Story Data: "Success" Item by Educational Level . 21 Story Data: "Nontraditional" Item by Group . . . . . 22 Story Data: "Nontraditional" Item by Educational Level C O O C O C C O C C O C O O O C O O 23 Story Data: "Identity" Item by Group . . . . . . . . 24 Story Data: "Identity" Item by Educational Level . . 25 Objective Choice Question: Option by Educational Lave l O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O O 0 vi REVIEW OF LITERATURE A Developmental Framework In large part, the following study is concerned with the process of identity formation: in this case, what current, college-aged women at a large, Midwestern university perceive as important components of their identity as adults and the manner in which they seek to realize this identity. As defined by Erikson (1968), identity, or more specifi- cally, ego identity, is - The conscious feeling of having a personal identity...based on two simultaneous observations: the perception of the selfsameness and continuity of one's existence in time and space and the perception of the fact that others recognize one's sameness and continuity...ego identity...concerns more than the mere fact of existence; it is, as it were, the ego quality of this existence. Ego identity, then, in its subjective aspect, is the awareness of the fact that there is a self sameness and continuity to the ego's synthesizing methods, the style of one's individuality, and this style coincides with the sameness and continuity of one's meaning for significant others in the immediate community. (p.50) Broadly, this much bantered, almost platitudinous term involves questions .concerning who one is: who one is, in relation to both oneself and to others; who one is, by virtue of the contributions made by one's biology, one's individual, personal history, and by one‘s culture. ' a premature, Barring the occurrence of "identity foreclosure,‘ "totalistic" solidification of one's definition of oneself, the process of identity formation is on-going and life-long, although particular components, or "tasks" of this process of being and becoming are more " "crises" of salient at particular points-—phases, stages, "passages, development than are others. Erikson defines these developmental crises not as periods of catastrophe, but rather, as necessary turning points, crucial moments, "when development must move one way or another, marshalling the resources of growth, recovery, and further differentia- tion." (p. 16) Erikson's stages, together with their concommitant tasks are sum- marized in Table l. The task during infancy, or during the "oral" stage of psychosexual development, as Freud has defined it, revolves around the establishment of trust, if development proceeds well, or of mis- trust, if development proceeds less fortunately. The task of toddlerhood (the "anal" period) becomes the establishment of a solid sense of autonomy, as opposed to feelings toward the self characterized by shame and doubt. During early childhood (the "phallic" period), the developmental task becomes the struggle between_feelings of initiative, as opposed to feelings of guilt. The school-aged ("latency" period) child becomes engaged with feelings involving a sense of industry, as opposed to feelings of inferiority. If the child comes to adolescence having resolved sufficiently each of these earlier developmental tasks, or crises, on the "positive" side of the equation, so that he or she brings to adolescence sufficient trust, autonomy, initiative, and industry--together with all of the behaviors and emotions the labels themselves do not quite convey-he or she is in a better position than the child who has been less successful in the resolution of these crises, to tackle the primary task of adoles- cence, the establishment of a sense of identity, as opposed to a state of identity confusion. This is a task which often involves the re-fighting of earlier developmental struggles, albeit in different forms. Thus, as indicated uuwno owuocowfimm m.dom&aum H m4m coauficmoowm Hanan: HmDmHmHz momuo> HmDmH unsoaumewm mamu0> HHGQNGO mm on Hess HmDOQ .m= MZCZOHD< fiowufinancH oaom momuo> modem mo coauwaaoaua< HAHau monum> m>HH soauaoemeuemeH ease wHHMOHmmmzH momuo> HMHmDGZH mosam> mo :Ofimsmaoo momu0> ucoaufiaaoo mowwoaooVH coamsuaou >uau05u=< momuo> nfismuosoflaom vsmnuovmoq coamamdoo Hmoxomfim msmuo> coaumnuuwaom Hoaxom onmszou wBHHzmnH momuo> wHHHzmnH mammamumm xuoz momuo> efinwoowucoume< coaumxam oHom mamuo> coaumuamafiuoaxm oHoM unconsciousoo twamm msmuo> huawwuumUImaom aofimnmdoo mafia mamum> o>wuuoanuom Hmuoeaoa ZOHH NU MHH>HH MHHMUWHZH by Table l, trust issues, involving the individual's ability to operate from an adequate time perspective (this includes one's ability to review and accept the past and plan for the future: a much more difficult task, if one remains mired in "autistic isolation") again become prominent during the stage of identity establishment. Autonomy issues replay themselves in regard to whether the individual is able to assert and main- tain feelings of self certainty, or whether he or she remains plagued by a sense of awkward, painful self consciousness. Initiative-related issues resurface as regards whether the individual is willing to engage in role experimentation, as opposed to suffering the effects of role confusion, fixation, or inhibition. Early industry struggles re-assert themselves in relation to work: whether the person feels confident of being able to mobilize energies in order to confront tasks, or suffers the effects of work paralysis. The difficulty of the identity-achievement task is compounded, in the American culture at least, by the discontinuity the adolescence period creates between the child's previous images, experiences, and expectations of him or herself as a child, and the new images and expec- tations demanded of him or her as an adolescent (Benedict, 1938). Equally, the beginning and endpoints of the many years encompassed by the term, "adolescence," are only ambiguously defined. Adolescence appears to be the period of time which begins with the biological changes of puberty and ends with the culture's acceptance of the individual as an adult, one who is entitled to adult responsibilities and privileges (McKinney, 1977). For those who spend long years in the pursuit of professional training, this period may not formally and officially end until one's mid-to-late twenties or early thirties,,. Specifically adolescent identity- related issues are thus relevant to the college-aged women who are the subjects of this study. The three remaining stages, together with their concommitant tasks, are, as noted in Table l, foreshadowed by the adolescent struggle for' identity: "intimacy vs. isolation," which refers to the individual's ability to form meaningful, intimate relationships with persons of the same and other sex; "generativity vs. stagnation," which involves the adult's relative ability or inability to give of him or herself to .others, either in the role of parent, and/or in his professional or other activities; and "integrity vs. despair,‘ when, "...the individual reaches the fullness of adulthood...reviews himself and his lifestyle, and feels a sense of wholeness or integrity, rather than despairing at his lot in life." (Erikson, p. 139). Passages: Erikson's Theory Popularized Whether intended or not, journalist and author, Gail Sheehy, has managed to popularize the broad outlines of Erikson's theory, by casting his psychological concepts in contemporary terms. This study, in part, seeks to examine the aspirations and desires of college-aged women, the majority of whom are between the ages of 18 and 22. The writer was, therefore, particularly interested in Ms. Sheehy's depictions of the "passages" related to these years, "Pulling Up Roots" and the "Trying Twenties." Of the Pulling Up Roots passage, Sheehy notes, "In an attempt to separate our view of the world from our family's view, despite vigorous protestations to the contrary-'I know exactly what I want'-~we cast around for any beliefs we can call our own." (p. 37) Sheehy details the tasks of this passage as locating oneself in a peer group, a sex role, an anticipated occupation, and an ideology or world view. She also addresses a number of this passage's major conflicts: the striving for independence and separation and the fear that one will fail; the replace- ment of parents by peers and the betrayal felt when those peers diverge from the newly founded "family"; and the incessant tug-ofdwar between the independently-oriented "seeker" self and the security-loving "merger" self which may be inclined to "piggyback" its development by attaching itself to a supposedly "stronger one." As a result of confronting the struggles of redefinition and of relocation inherent in Pulling Up Roots, "...we gather the impetus to leave home physically, and the identity to begig_leaving home emotionally." (p. 39) I The period of Pulling Up Roots is succeeded, in Sheehy's formulation, by the Trying Twenties. During this time, the individual confronts the question of "how to take hold in the adult world. Our focus shifts from the interior turmoils of late adolescence--'Who am I?' 'What is truth?'—- and we become totally preoccupied with working out the externals." (p. 39) In describing the characteristics of this period, Sheehy draws attention to the pervasive theme of the "should's," inherited largely from family models, "the press of the culture, or the prejudices of our peers"; the fearful, but mostly illusory conviction that choices made during this period will prove to be irrevocable; and the constant warring between the impulse to make a binding commitment (which brings with it, the accompanying danger of being "locked in," or, as Erikson would label it, "foreclosed") and the impulse to experiment and explore (which brings with it the danger of never making a commitment, or remaining "transient," in Sheehy's terms, or "diffused," as Erikson would label it). Sheehy follows her discussion of the Trying Twenties with equally deft depictions of "Catch-30," "Rooting and Extending," "The Deadline Decade,‘ and "Renewal and Resignation, thus providing.a lively, readable, and accurate expansion of the information condensed in Table l. Loving and WOrking Well: Concomitants of Identity Achievement As noted earlier, this study, in its broadest sense, deals with the process of identity formation. As Havighurst (1951), in writing of this task during the period of adolescence, notes, and as Sheehy reiterates, this process involves attention to and mastery of a variety of emotions and behaviors: locating oneself in a peer group, a sex role, an antici- pated occupation, and an ideology or world view. This process of "locating" oneself, although it begins in adolescence, is also quite relevant to the college-aged women who are the subjects of this study. This study is primarily concerned, however, with two issues, the resolution of which seems to be vital to one's sense of identity: the desire and striving for intimacy, and the desire and striving for meaningful work. In deciding to focus on these two issues, the writer took her cue from Erikson, who took his cue from Freud: Freud was once asked what he thought a normal person should be able to do well. The questioner probably expected a complicated, "deep" answer. But Freud simply said, "Lieben und Arbeiten" (to love and to work)... When Freud said, "love," he meant the generosity of intimacy, as well as genital love; when he said love and work, he meant a general work productiveness which would not preoccupy the individual to the extent that he might lose his right or capacity to be a sexual and loving being. (Erikson, 1968, p. 136) A primary question of interest in this study is how college-aged women at a large Midwestern university during the mid-to-late seventies define the terms, "love" and "work" for themselves, together with the strategies these women envision themselves engaging in so that one, the other, or both are included in their lives. Erikson's Theory and Women's Development: Some Reservations The writer has devoted considerable space to Erik Erikson's theoret- ical formulations, including Gail Sheehy's contemporary rendering of this theory. The reasons for this decision were multiple. They included: the prominent position accorded Erikson's psychosocial theory by current, academic psychology and the centrality of the concept of identity within the theory; the fact that the broad outlines and sequencing of the theory have been validated empirically (although primarily in regard to male subjects); and the reality that for the writer and for many others, the theory makes powerful intuitive sense. One of the major instruments employed in this study (see Methods section) is based upon the theory pertaining to the first sex of Erikson's eight stages. It might be noted, however, that Erikson's theory has escaped neither doubt nor criticism, especially as regards the degree to which the theory incorporates certain psychoanalytic and cultural biases. These biases become particularly critical in relation to Erikson's treatment of women's development, a problematical area for psychologists generally. Despite the humanity with which he writes, Erikson emerges as quite the traditionalist, as in "WOmanhood and Inner Space" (1968), he poses a kindly wrought, yet distinctly recognizeable version of the anatomy-is-destiny argument: But how does the identity formation of women differ by dint of the fact that their somatic design harbors an "inner space" destined to bear the offspring of chosen men and, with it, a biological, psychological, and ethical commitment to take care of human infancy? Is not the disposition for this commit- ment (whether it be combined with a career, and even whether or not it be realized in actual motherhood) the core problem of female fidelity? (p. 266) Questions exist as to whether or not a woman may attain an acceptable or healthy identity status without either filling or fulfilling her "inner space." Equally, other writers (see next section, "WOmen and Identity Achievement") question whether it is necessary for any individual to make both an occupational and intimacy-related commitment in order to secure a solid sense of identity. With these reservations in mind, the writer will discuss briefly three areas which are related directly to the issue of identity achieve- ment among women: studies which focus specifically upon the process of women's identity achievement (locating oneself in an ideology), as the issue is approached from an Eriksonian framework; issues relating to women, work, and achievement (locating oneself in an occupation), as traditionally defined by psychologists; and the concept of psychological androgyny (locating oneself in a sex role). * * * * WOmen and Identity Achievement: Locating Oneself in an Ideolggy_ There is some evidence, based upon empirical examination of Erikson's theory which supports the outline and sequencing of this theory. Evidence also suggests that identity achievement-~which includes as central tasks, the resolution of ideological and occupational commitments-—is more difficult for women than for men in this culture. James Marcia (1966, 10 1970), who, both by himself and in conjunction with other investigators, has conducted a good bit of the research in this area, has developed an interview technique by which he categorizes his subjects in terms of their relative identity achievement. Subjects are categorized as being either in the stage of "identity achievement" (those who have resolved the identity crisis and are committed to an occupational goal and ideology); "moratorium" (those who are in a crisis period and whose commitments are currently vague); "identity foreclosure" (those who have avoided the experience of crisis by making their occupational and ideological commitments on the basis of what others want them to become); or "identity diffusion" (those who are characterized primarily by a lack of commitment and who either may or may not be in crisis). Following is a summary of the results of several studies of college- aged women in which Marcia's interview technique was employed. Marcia and Friedman (1970) in a study of 49 senior college women, found that female identity achievers carried more difficult majors and had lower self esteem scores. In contrast, foreclosures had higher self esteem scores, as well as more authoritarianism and anxiety. The authors conclude from their data that the foreclosure status may be particularly "adaptive" to women because their self esteem is higher than that of identity achievers. The authors also note, however, that such a conclusion poses a dilemma. It suggests that in order to be adaptive, a woman must either tolerate anxiety as a foreclosure, or must, as an identity achiever, tolerate low self esteem. Other identity researchers, owever, do not support the Marcia and Friedman findings, and, in fact, report an inverse relationship between 11 anxiety and identity status in females (i.e., the better the identity status, the lower the anxiety). Schenkel and Marcia (1972) found that female identity achievers were higher in self esteem and less anxious than the subjects in the Marcia and Friedman study. The authors note, however, that this study involved a new generation of college women at a smaller college. Marcia and Toder (1973) reaffirm the contention that the task of achieving an identity is, indeed, more disruptive for women than for men: "It would appear that there is still more social support for the male while he breaks away from parental values and experiments with new roles than there is for the female, who can apparently count on less support." Relatedly, Anne Constantinople (1969) has suggested that college environments in larger institutions may be less conducive to growth among female students. Constantinople, who studied 952 male and female students in four colleges and then ran a follow-up study on a number of her original subjects, noted the existence of certain "anti-developmental" trends among her female subjects. Although females were generally more mature than males when they entered college, males made greater gains in maturity over the next four years. ConstantinOple, thus, suggests that the college environment favors the developmental patterns of men. Equally, Constantinople (1970) notes that her male subjects generally showed an increase in happiness from their freshman to senior years, while females evidenced increased feelings of isolation. This issue-the seemingly greater difficulty women encounter in attempting to forge an identity, other than within the context of the traditional, feminine role--is best exemplified to the writer by a 12 story told to her by a female friend, now a clinical psychologist.* The incident took place at this woman's college graduation ceremony. The woman and a male student, both of whom had graduated with honors, had been accepted to graduate schools. A male professor walked up to the two students and asked what their future plans were. Upon telling of his acceptance to graduate school and of his desire to pursue a doctorate, the male student received the professor's heartiest congratulations and wishes for the best of luck. In contrast, the female student, who stated identical hopes and plans, was met with the single comment, "well, you certainly are an ambitious woman"-—as the professor walked away. This incident is now eight years old, and as Guardo (1975) notes, this incident, as well as the majority of the Marcia studies previously cited, took place before the full impact of the recent WOmen's Movement had a chance to make itself fully felt. It is possible, as Guardo and the Marcia and Schenkel data suggest, that the task of identity forma- tion may become somewhat easier for women who are offered a greater range of options (and models), together with greater societal support for pursuing roles other than the traditional one of wifedmother-and- homemaker. In fact, it seems that men as well as women may have more options for satisfactory identity achievement than were previously defined by the Marcia studies. Orlofsky and Marcia (1973), in addition to categor— izing their 53 male subjects as either identity achievers, moritorium, diffusion, or foreclosure, deliniated yet another category, that of "alienated identity achievement." These men, although they lacked a clear *Dr. Camella Serum, personal communication 13 occupational commitment, seemed to have developed a strong rationale for this lack of choice. Scoring highest of all the groups on the autonomy and intimacy measures and scoring lowest of all groups on the social desirability and isolation measures, these men, who from the authors' descriptions, often seemed to have a "counter-culture" air about them, appeared to base their identity more on their style of relating to other people than upon matters of occupational and ideological choice. (Their ideology consisted largely of their attitudes and values concerning intimate and interpersonal involvement: "It is as if he chooses to forgo the identity crisis in favor of the intimacy crisis, his stance toward the latter becoming the basis for his identity" (p. 217). The writer, in her clinical practice, which, for the past two years has consisted exclusively of college men and women, has had contact with at least one woman who would seem to fit the "alienated achievement" category. This woman, also a counterculture-identified~co-op-dweller, exudes an undeniable sense of having "located" herself in regard to a number of areas deemed important to establishing a sense of identity. Although she is pursuing educational and occupational goals, the pursuit is without the urgency or the significance which she attaches to her interpersonal relationships. Nor does she feel herself to be bound irrevocably to the traditional requirements of the female role. WOrking well and loving well may, thus, be defined in a variety of ways. A solid sense of identity, too, may be variously defined. **** 14 WOmen, WOrk, and Achievement: LocatinggOnself in an Anticipated Occupation As Mednick and Tangri (1972, p. 11) state, it is simply a fact that, "virtually all adult women (except heiresses) work at at least one job (housekeeper); most combine this with a second job (childcare); and a growing proportion of these, plus all other women, hold still a third job (employment outside the home)." Yet, as these writers further state, there are several problems with these jobs. Traditionally defined "women's work" is not even considered legitimate work by many (Rowbotham, 1973), and as Donelson and Gullahorn (1977) among others note, the fact that the work involved in being a mother and a housewife develops out of an ascribed, rather than an achieved role, leads to such work going unacknowledged, undervalued, or unrewarded. Equally, the work that women traditionally have done-—housewifery, mothering, volunteer work of all kinds--goes unpaid, a rather powerful statement in a culture wherein worth is validated by salary. When the work women do is paid, however, the payment is less, across the board, than that earned by a male in a comparable position. This pay differential, together with the actual numbers of women in professional or high status positions has, in reality, worsened every decade since the 1920's (see Gullahorn, 1977). The greatest concentration of female workers is confined to what has been christened the "pink collar ghetto," low status, low paying jobs which are often an extension of women's traditional nurturing or domestic roles. It has been shown experimentally that men's effort is more highly valued, both by male and female subjects, than is comparable, even identical, effort made by women (Taylor and Deaux, 15 1973, 1975), and that the perceived desirability of a given profession decreases when subjects are informed that greater numbers of women will be entering that profession in the years to come (Touhey, 1974). Within psychological circles, a concept closely allied with the notion of work--the motive to achieve, to strive for success-in any situation where standards of excellence are applicable (McClelland, 1953)--has not, until recently, been viewed as a significant component of women's psychological makeup. As Alper (1977) notes, "Spurred by the original findings of McClelland and his associates, achievement motivation soon became one of the major areas of psychological research. All seemed to go smoothly as long as the investigators limited themselves to male subjects. Typically, the results of such experiments were statistically significant and consistent with stated hypotheses. But when female subjects were used, with few exceptions, the results were either equivocal or inconsistent." (p. 296) Originally, women's motive to achieve was seen as being propelled primarily by their affiliative needs--the need to please and seek others' approval--rather than as being internalized and self directed, as it appeared was the case for men. Stein and Bailey (1973), in a comprehen- sive review of a substantial proportion of the achievement literature pertaining to white, middle class subjects, suggest otherwise. Arguing against the assumption that the male model of achievement is either an appropriate or a desirable model for women to emulate, Stein and Bailey contend that women are indeed motivated to achieve, particularly in those areas and on those tasks which are viewed as appropriate within the feminine role. Within this context, social skills are perceived 16 frequently by women as a legitimate arena for achievement efforts, "...the evidence discussed supports the hypothesis that social skills are a central area of achievement concern for many females, not that female achievement efforts are instigated primarily by affiliation motives or a desire for social approval per se. The goal is attainment of a standard of excellence, but the areas in which attainment is most important are somewhat different from males" (p. 350). Stein and Bailey caution, however, that many achieving females depart from this pattern. Even if women do not, in fact, differ greatly from.males in their motivation to achieve, to pursue standards of excellence, it does appear to be the case that women tend to look upon the results of their efforts differently than men do. Experimental efforts have tended to demonstrate that female subjects, whether young children or adults, are more likely to attribute their success at a given effort or task to external conditions--to luck--than to their own competence (Feather, 1969; Feather and Simon, 1975; Deaux and Emswiller, 1974). Equally, as Stein and Bailey conclude from a survey of the pertinent literature, female subjects' expectancy (what the person believes he or she is able to do) of success, together with their level of aspiration (what level of goal difficulty the person actually attempts), are generally lower than that of male subjects, while females' anxiety about and personal acceptance of responsibility for failure are generally greater. In recent years, it has been suggested that women's achievement behavior may be influenced by what Horner (1968) has labeled "fear of success, the arousal of the expectancy, in competitive situations, that success will lead to negative consequences. To this point, some 200 17 studies have been conducted in regard to this construct. Often, this research has appeared to raise more questions than it has answered. Widespread debate continues in regard to the percentage of women and men who suffer the effects of such an expectation of negative consequences; whether this expectancy actually affects performance in other than experi- mental contexts; whether fear of success has increased or decreased in recent years and why; what the correlates of fear of success are; and what the term, "fear of success," in reality, means-~what dimension of a complex process the fear of success studies are actually tapping (Tresemer, 1974, 1976). Additional questions concern the degree and manner in which fear of success operates in other than white, middle class subjects (Puryear and Mednick, 1974; Weston and Mednick, 1974), together with the nature of its developmental course (Romer, 1977). Achievement and "Femininity" Regardless of the debate over whether or not successful achievement, particularly in other than traditionally acceptable contexts for women, may be an aversive rather than a rewarding experience, it is certainly the case that many of the characteristics associated with a strong achievement orientation--emotional independence, assertiveness, competi- tiveness--are inherently antithetical to the traditionally defined feminine role. Hoffman (1972) suggests that from infancy onward, females are socialized away from the kinds of behavior that are essential to later achievement. Hoffman pays particular attention to the societal insistence that children separate from their mothers, the less intense demand made of females in this regard, and a major consequence of this demand--women's diminished feelings of competence. 18 In developing her argument, Hoffman initially notes that the female child is given inadequate parental encouragement in early independence strivings. The separation of the self is more delayed or incomplete for the girl because she is the same sex as her mother, shares the same sex role expectations, and is likely to experience fewer conflicts with her parents. As a result, she does not develop sufficient confidence in her abilities to cope independently with the environment. Less encourage- ment of her independence, greater parental protectiveness, less cognitive and social pressure for establishing an identity separate from.that of her mother, together with less mother-child conflict which would normally heighten a sense of separation, results not only in diminished confidence, but also in lesser skills in coping with the environment. Lesser confi- dence and skills result in the girl's greater dependence upon adults for solving her problems, "and because of this, she needs her affective ties with adults" (Hoffman, 1972, pp. 137-138). Hoffman notes that fears of abandonment are very common in infants and young children, even when the actual danger is remote. Involvement in mastery explorations which give rise to feelings of confidence and competence can alleviate those fears. For girls, however, these fears may continue into adulthood, "The anticipation of being alone and unloved, then, may have a particularly desperate quality in women...we propose that the all pervasive affiliative need in women results from.this syndrome." (p. 147) Suggesting that women's affiliative needs are at least, in part, based upon an insufficient sense of competence, and as such, may have a "compelling neurotic quality, "Hoffman's arguments are remininscent of 19 Horney's (1937) analysis of the mechanics of a culturally induced "neurosis." Horney, too, deals with the issue of fear of success, although not specifically related to women: "...in general, the neurotic will consider it safer not to do the thing he wants to do. His maxim is: stay in the corner, be modest, and most of all, do not be conspicuous... This implies sticking to conventional standards, staying out of the limelight, being no different from others... This fear of success results from fear of the begruding envy of others and thus the loss of their affection (emphasis added)...if he does have success...he does not even feel it is his own experience...he will diminish it by attributing it to some fortuitous circumstance..." (Horney, 1937, pp. 213-215). Taking into consideration both Hoffman and Horney's analyses, the writer wonders whether at some level, the "fear of success" studies are tapping into subjects' fears of separation. The direction of Hoffman's largely theoretical, admittedly specula- tive article is supported by Stein and Bailey's summary of the literature concerning the socialization of achievement patterns. This literature suggests that child-rearing patterns which are conducive to the development of feminine sex-role-typing are often antagonistic to those associated with achievement-oriented behavior. Stein and Bailey note that a female child is most likely to develop achievement behavior and independence when her parents are moderately warm, moderately to highly permissive, and when they encourage and reinforce achievement efforts. Encouragement of independence per se apparently leads to independence, but it is not clearly related to achievement behavior. Some concomitant features of the practices in families of highly achievement oriented females include 20 ' moderate punitiveness, high demands on the child, and acceleration attempts by the mother. Achievement orientation can also be stimulated by a mother who engages in a career, thereby providing an achieving female model, "These chil—rearing practices are, in many instances, the reverse of those that lead to high femininity" (Stein and Bailey, 1973, p. 362). Clearly, sex-role-typing and the culturally sanctioned mechanisms by which it is enforced and reinforced, may often result in a painful conflict between a woman's need and desire for personal achievement and her need and desire to maintain a sufficiently "feminine" conception of herself. This makes the process of establishing a consistent, workable, gratifying sense of identity a difficult task indeed. In contrast to women, men are given a clear sanction to subordinate the demands of interpersonal relationships to those of work and achieve- ment, if that is deemed as necessary. For many men, this subordination does take place, without there being the over-riding fear that they will lose important attachments in the process (although many men do; further- more, they are often trapped on the other side of the equation: the insistence that they must achieve and succeed). WOmen, however, appear to be forever engaged in a precarious kind of balancing act. In a seemingly unending struggle to accommodate the culturally supported demand that they nurture others, while at the same time they attempt to meet their needs for personal achievement and competence, many women, as Hoffman notes, choose to sacrifice their own achievement strivings for attachment. These women then attempt to derive some satisfaction of the sacrificed needs vicariously, through the enjoyment of their husbands' and children's successes. Other women attempt to strike a balance by 21 selecting an appropriately "feminine" occupation, or by remaining in a low-status position or job. Fewer numbers of women pursue professional interests, while giving up or delaying marriage and motherhood, while other women attempt to do it all (Gullahorn, 1977): "With me, the house, the kids, and your job...Honey, I just don't see how you do it all..." The writer suspects that such a feat requires more than a daily swig of Geritol. A primary question, then, that is relevant to this study, involves the choice(s) the women who are the subjects of this study envision themselves making: choices regarding the demands of achievement and affiliation, the desire for intimacy, the desire for meaningful work. c-* t a . The Concept of Psychological Andrggynygg Locating Oneself in a Sex Role Historically, the term, "androgyny," has been associated with a number of meanings and definitions (Stimpson, 1974), but the definition that is of importance to the writer is that of psychological androgyny, "the capacity of a sin-1e person of either sex to embody the full range of character traits, despite cultural attempts to render some exclusively feminine and some exclusively masculine" (Secor, 1974, p. 139). Numerous writers (i.e., Carlson, 1974; Block, 1973), when speaking of androgyny, refer to the integration of "agentic," or "instrumental" (traditionally "masculine") traits, with "communal," or "expressive" (traditionally "feminine") traits. Such integration, for men, "...requires self assertion, self interest, and self extension be tempered by considerations of mutuality, interdependence, and joint welfare" (Block, p. 515). For women, such integration requires, ...concern for the harmonious 22 functioning of the group, the submersion of self, and the importance of concerns characteristic of communion be amended to include characteristics of agentic self assertion and self expression, aspects that are essential for personal integration and self actualization" (Block, p. 515). In comparing several socialistic countries (Norway, Sweden, and Denmark) with the United States, Block notes that capitalism seems to require an exaggerated agentic orientation. This has been accomplished in the United States by clear and early sex typing, an early and obvious emphasis upon competitive achievement, and by a lesser demand for the control of aggression, particularly male aggression. Yet, varied, although fragmentary evidence exists which supports the contention that a high level of sex typing, of the kind that exists in the United States, may not be especially desirable if the goal is to produce flexible, adaptive human beings capable of utilizing the entire range of their emotional and behavioral potentials. In referring to studies in which male and female subjects were assessed according to Kohlberg's scheme of moral development, Block (1973) notes that both male and female subjects at higher levels of moral develop- ment tended to be comparatively androgynous. High scoring male subjects, when given adjective check-lists and asked to indicate what they consid— ered to be desirable traits, did not choose fewer agentic adjectives than low scoring males. High scoring males did, however, demonstrate a greater acceptance of communal adjectives, as well. High scoring female subjects endorsed not only communal adjectives, but they also evidenced a tendency toward agency. 23 Maccoby (1966) indicated that greater intellectual development and creativity among children were consistently related to cross—sex-typing. Rigid sex-role-typing has been found to be associated with lower intelli- gence, lower creativity, and lower spatial ability. Further studies (e.g., Call, 1969; Mussen, 1961, 1962) suggest that high femininity in females is associated with high anxiety, low self esteem, and low social acceptance. High masculinity in boys, although correlated with better psychological adjustment during adolescence, is correlated, in adulthood, with high anxiety, high neuroticism, and low self acceptance. From data drawn from the Oakland Growth study (of 68 women between the ages of 30 and 40) Block concludes that high femininity and occupational mobility are inversely related. Contending that, "...androgyny is immensely practical," Donelson (1977, p. 136) notes that particularly for women, for whom strict role adherence does not offer even the limited advantages it affords men, androgyny is associated with personal satisfaction and a more complete and spontaneous expression of basic human potentials than is strict sex-typing. Equally, Spence, Helmreich, and Strupp (1975) conclude that, "...androgyny, conceived as the possession of both masculinity and femininity, may lead to the most socially desirable consequences" (p. 35). Ban (1975), in Summarizing the results of several experimental studies she and her co~workers have conducted, concludes that a subject's adherence to rigidly sex-typed behavior clearly limits the kinds of behavior he or she is willing to engage in. Both androgynous men and women (in this case, college students) were willing and able to perform instrumental as well as expressive or nurturant tasks successfully 24 (expressive tasks included interacting with a kitten, a baby, and a lonely student confederate). High feminine men and women, however, were less instrumental, and high masculine men and women were less nurturant. That high masculine men were less responsive in all experimental conditions designed to elicit nurturant responses appeared to Bem to be cause for alarm, although she cautions that these men might have reacted differently if faced with situations other than laboratory-created ones. Equally, the nurturance displayed by highly feminine women was not consistent. Although these women displayed more nurturant responses to the baby and to the lonely student than to the kitten, Bem notes that the kind of nurturance exhibited was a largely passive one. Although there was no need for these women to take responsibility for initiating and maintaining the interaction in the lab, Bem speculates that perhaps some degree of "masculinity" is necessary for the translation of nurturant feelings into appropriate action. Although there is agreement among various investigators that androgyny may lead to a host of desirable consequences, debate does exist about how the concept should be operationalized. Both Bem (1975) and Spence (1975) view masculinity and femininity as separate dimensions (rather than as two end-points of a single continuum), and they agree that each dimension is present in both men and women, although typically, in different degrees. Yet, whereas Bem views the state of being androgynous as the relative balance between masculine and feminine traits, Spence views the androgynous individual as being high in bgth. This divergence in definition has resulted in differential usage of those instruments 25 designed to measure subjects' psychological androgyny (see Methods section). - For the purposes of this study, the writer was interested in how subjects would "locate" themselves in regard to their sex role, as indicated by their scores on an instrument designed to measure psycho- logical androgyny; how subjects' scores on the androgyny measure would be related to their scores on an Eriksonian-based identity measure; and how subjects' androgyny scores might be influenced by an academic course, the content of which dealt with women's identity issues, including that of sex role. * s * * Statement of the Problem This study concerns itself with the process of identity formation: that process of self definition and re-definition which occurs throughout an individual's lifetime. As conceptualized by Erikson, there are critical junctures during which specific developmental issues, or "tasks," ' which may encompass become particularly salient. During these "passages,' a number of years, the individual re-defines, "relocates," him or herself in relation to who he or she was, who he or she is becoming, and who he or she will be in the future. An individual's sense of identity, itself a consequence of and predecessor to a layering of interactions (including the individual in interaction with his or her personal biology, history, and culture), takes place within and is influenced by a larger set of interactions. These include larger human biology, history, and culture. An omnipresent feature of this process is change. Yet, the reality of change is accompanied, ideally, by an equally pervasive sense of 26 continuity. It is this sense of continuity throughout time which insures that despite a variety of re-definitions and re-locations, the individual remains "recognizeable" both to him or herself and to the community of significant others that comprise his or her world. The subjects of this study are college-aged women, mostly between the ages of 18 and 22, who are attending a large, Midwestern university during the mid-to-late 1970's. Theoretically, these women are grappling with the passages, as denoted by Sheehy, of "Pulling Up Roots" and the ' concerned as they are with the developmental tasks of "Trying Twenties,’ late adolescence and early adulthood. ‘Central among these tasks, as pre- viously discussed, are issues relating to locating oneself within an ideology, an anticipated occupation, and a sex role. As women, these subjects are likely to encounter certain difficulties, as previously noted, as they attempt to meet these tasks and resolve them successfully. These difficulties include an apparent lesser degree of support the college environment may provide for women, as opposed to men, who are attempting to separate from parental and cultural expectations in order to form a workable sense of identity. These women may also encounter difficulties, both logistical and philosophical, in balancing the demands of intimacy and personal achievement-—love and work--given the restric- tions of the traditionally defined "women's role." These restrictions are challenged, both theoretically and practically, by support of and movement toward a state of psychological androgyny. This study seeks to address a number of identity-related questions. The first of these involve an assessment of these subjects' current level of identity achievement, as measured by an Eriksonian-based identity 27 instrument. Will subjects' scores be significantly affected by their educational standing, as was the case in the Constantinople study? Will subjects' scores be significantly affected by their participation in a psychology of women course? This is an academic course which deals specifically with identity issues of importance to women and which provides its participants with opportunities to discuss these issues among themselves. Further questions include these subjects' "location" of themselves in regard to their sex role, as assessed by an instrument which measures an individual's degree of psychological androgyny. Will subjects' scores prove to be significantly affected by their educational standing? Will subjects' scores be affected by their participation in the psychology of women course? The content of this course includes information and discussion of sex roles, sex-role-typing and its effects upon women, and information concerning the concept of psychological androgyny. Addition- ally, what will be the relationship between subjects' identity scores and their sex role orientation (i.e., androgyny) scores. Finally, the writer is interested in having subjects indicate what the important components of their identity as adult women might be. Of particular importance is how subjects envision themselves addressing the identity issues relating to intimacy and personal achievement. Despite empirical evidence which suggests that the resolution of these two issues may not be absolute prerequisites for the establishment of a satisfactory sense of identity, the writer's intuitive hunches, confirmed by data obtained in a pilot study (see Methods section) indicated that the issues of work and love would be addressed by a majority of subjects. 28 The tactic employed in this study in order to elicit this kind of information involved asking subjects to write a story about a hypotheti- cal woman. Upon the celebration of her thirtieth birthday, "Ann" reviews her life and decides she is happy. In responding to the verbal lead, the writer assumed subjects would be required to project themselves to the end of their currently experienced "passage." The writer also assumed that if one (i.e., "Ann") had managed to resolve satisfactorily those issues important to having secured, for that point in one's life, a workable sense of identity, then the affective outcome of that successful resolution would be positive feelings of weel being, of satisfaction, of "happiness." Realizing that "happiness" is not a term often employed or directly explored by psychologists, the writer felt, nonetheless, that the term would strike a resonant affective chord and provide meaningful associations from these women. As subjects, these women are more used to thinking in "everyday" emotional language, as opposed to specifically psychological, operationalized terminology. It might be noted that this proposed relationship between happiness and satisfactory identity achievement has received some empirical support. Constantinople (1970), who tested 48 male and 40 female college students in both their freshman and senior years, found that subjects' scores on an objective measure of happiness (a ten-point bipolar scale) were associated with their scores on four subscales of the Eriksonian-based identity measure: Trust, Mistrust, Isolation, and Identity. The "happy woman" story, then, functions as a projective instrument. The writer assumed that the subject would, at least in part, identify herself with the "heroine," Ann. As the subject described the events 29 that had occurred in Ann's life since high school graduation, their sequence, the roles Ann had assumed, and the means by which Ann had met the demands of these roles, the subject would indicate that which had been important to Ann's happiness, her satisfactory sense of identity. By implication of the assumptions inherent in projective measurement, the subject would also indicate those behaviors which are important to achieving a positive sense of her own identity. Again, the writer is interested in whether the content of the "happy woman" stories will be affected by the educational standing of the subject and whether content differences will arise as a result of subjects' participation in a psychology of women course. As responses of projective measures often tend to be idealized, an objective choice question was also included. This question's content deals specifically with how the subject envisioned herself balancing the demands of working outside the home and raising children. In order to address these questions, the writer solicited responses from women enrolled in a psychology of women course and relevant controls. In addition to experimental (psychology of women subjects) and control subjects, an additional group of women, mostly seniors, were included so that all undergraduate levels might be assessed and compared. Subjects responded to a number of paper-and-pencil instruments: a demographic information questionnaire; an identity measure; an androgyny measure; the "happy woman" projective story; and the objective choice question pertaining to the subject's working outside the home and raising children. 30 The identity measure is designed to assess an individual's relative identity achievement as regards the first six of Erikson's eight stages (i.e., Trust vs. Mistrust; Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt; Initiative vs. Guilt; Industry vs. Inferiority; Identity vs. Role Diffusion; and Intimacy vs. Isolation). As this instrument was developed specifically for use among young adults who were also college students, its originators included items pertaining only to those stages they felt were germane to the developmental issues typically confronted by this age group. Items, then, pertaining to the later stages of Generativity vs. Stagnation and Integrity vs. Despair were not included in this instrument. Based upon their responses to the androgyny measure (the Ben Sex Role Inventory), subjects were categorized as being "masculine," "feminine," "androgynous," or "undifferentiated." Spence's (1975) definition of androgyny (high levels of both masculinity and femininity), rather than Bem's (1975) definition (a relative balance of the masculine and feminine) was employed, together with Spence's median-split technique for categori- zation. The following hypotheses are organized into two groups: course- related hypotheses and educational level-related hypotheses. Because subjects comprising the four educational-level groups were selected non- randomly, the following educational-level-related hypotheses, which cannot be adequately tested by this design, are proposed as secondary hypotheses. The easy availability of the juniors and seniors in the advanced psychology of women course (Psychology 439), however, offered the potential of obtaining information pertinent to the educational level 31 variable. In addition, these women comprise a special group whose responses are important to the issue of the relevance of psychology of women courses to women's identity development. Course-related Hypotheses Hypothesis 1: Participation in the introductory psychology of women course will be significantly related to the subjects' scores on the Eriksonian identity measure. It is expected that the post- course experimental subjects will have significantly higher scores on the positive scales and significantly lower scores on the negative scales of the identity instrument than will the post-course control group. Previously cited studies (i.e., Marcia and Friedman, 1970; Constan- tinople, 1969) suggest that the college environment may be more supportive of identity achievement among men than among women. One way in which the academic environment may function to redress this lesser degree of support is through the inclusion of such courses as The Psychology of WOmen, the content of which deals with identity issues pertaining to women. This hypothesis is based on the assumption that the effects of the kinds of information received by class participants, together with the effects of the opportunity afforded class members to discuss these issues among themselves will be reflected in the identity scores of the post-course experimental subjects, as opposed to the scores of the post-course control group whose members have not received, discussed, and shared such information. Hypothesis 2: Participation in the psychology of women course will be significantly related to subjects' scores on the androgyny measure. It is expected that the post-course experimental subjects will include a significantly greater frequency of androgynously oriented indi- viduals than will the post-course control group. 32 As noted by Donelson (1977) and Block (1973), evidence exists which may indicate the possibility of an individual over-coming, transcending, or at least, modifying, the effects of sex role typing. Part of the content of the psychology of women course was explicit discussion of sex roles, sex role typing, and psychological androgyny. This hypothesis is based upon the assumption that such information might serve to give class participants "permission" to begin integrating both the masculine and feminine components of themselves. The effects of this process might be observed in a greater frequency of androgynously oriented individuals among the post-course experimental group, as opposed to the post-course control group. Hypothesis 3: Participation in the psychology of women course will be signifi- cantly related to the content of the stories describing Ann, the happy woman. It is expected that the post-course experimental subjects will write more "realistic" stories, in that they will be more likely to include references to the typical kinds of conflict experienced by women attempting to balance the demands for personal achievements (i.e., career aspirations, doing for oneself) with the demands of interpersonal intimacy (i.e., relationship with husband/lover/children), as they attempt to forge a satisfactory sense of identity. The content of the psychology of women course dealt explicitly with various roles, traditional and alternative, available to women, together with the various difficulties and conflicts attached to such roles. This hypothesis is based on the assumption that as a result of participating in this class, the post-course experimental subjects would be more aware of the kinds of conflict experienced by women who attempt to balance the demands of achievement and intimacy and that this awareness would be reflected in the content of the "happy woman" stories. 33 Educational-level-related Hypotheses (Secondary Hypotheses) Hypothesis 4: Educational level will be significantly related to subjects' scores on the Eriksonian identity measure. It is expected that juniors and seniors will score significantly higher on the positive scales and significantly lower on the negative scales than will freshmen and sophomores. Results of an earlier experimental effort (Constantinople, 1969) support the contention that identity, as measured by the instrument employed in this study, becomes stronger as the individual moves through college, although this relationship proved to be stronger for male subjects than for female subjects. As this study involves a later generation of college women during a time when the impact of the WOmen's Movement might be greater, and the college environment might be more responsive to the needs of women, it was expected that the trend toward "better" identity scores, from freshman through senior years, would be more pronounced than in the previous experimental study. Hypothesis 5: Educational level will be significantly related to subjects' scores on the androgyny instrument. It is expected that the junior and senior groups will include a significantly greater frequency of androgynously oriented individuals than will the freshman and senior groups. The experience of college tends to be a liberalizing one for many students, and there appears to be a tendency toward greater androgyny after the conventional sex-typed socialization and intense role pressures of adolescence (Donelson, 1977). It was, thus, expected that the impact of these factors would be reflected in a greater frequency of androgy- nously oriented individuals among the older groups of subjects than among the younger groups. 34 Hypothesis 6: Educational level will be significantly related to the content of the stories describing Ann, the happy woman. It is expected that the older subjects' (juniors and seniors) stories will prove to be more "realistic" and will include more references to conflict than will the stories of the younger (freshmen and sophomores) subjects. This hypothesis is based upon the assumption that as a result of maturation and of greater experience, juniors and seniors will be more aware of the kinds of conflict experienced by women attempting to balance the demands of personal achievement and interpersonal intimacy than would freshmen and sophomores, and that this awareness would be reflected in the content of the "happy woman" stories. Finally, it is proposed that in regard to the total sample of subjects: Hypothesis 7: There will be a significant relationship between subjects' scores on the identity measure and their scores on the androgyny measures. It is expected that the androgynously oriented individuals will score significantly higher on the positive scales and significantly lower on the negative scales of the identity measure than will masculine-oriented, feminine-oriented, or undifferentiated individuals. Psychological androgyny implies a greater state of integration, in that the individual is freer to utilize all parts of him or herself, rather than restricting him or herself to feelings and behaviors that are deemed "appropriate" to his or her sex. Numerous empirical studies (i.e., Block, 1973; Bem, 1975; Spence, 1975) have confirmed the "benefits" derived from androgyny. These include the androgynous individual's greater flexibility, adaptability, feelings of self esteem, etc. These benefits may prove to be particularly important to women, who derive fewer advantages from a strict adherence to their traditionally defined role than do men (Donelson, 35 1977; Block, 1973). It is expected that this greater sense of integration will also be reflected in the better identity scores among androgynous subjects in this study, as opposed to the scores received by the other three groups. METHODS Subjects In order to assess the impact of the psychology of women course upon subjects' identity, androgyny, and story scores, the following four groups of subjects were compared: Group 1: Pre-course experimental subjects This group was composed of 23 women, all of whom were enrolled in Psychology 139, "The Psychology of Women." Conducted by a female instructor (Dr. Barbara Reimer), the course took place during Winter Term, 1978. This group of women was assessed at the end of the first class meeting, prior to the actual teaching of the course. Included in the group were 6 freshmen, ll sophomores, 3 juniors, 1 senior, one graduate student, and one woman who did not note her educational status. Group 2: Pre-course control subjects This group was composed of 24 women, all of whom were solicited from Psychology 160, an introductory social and personality psychology class. This class, taught by a male instructor (Dr. Andrew Barclay), also took place during Winter Term, 1978. This group of women was assessed early in the term, during the first full week of classes. The group included 21 freshmen, 2 sophomores, and l senior. Group 3: Post-course experimental subjects This group was composed of 19 women, all of whom were enrolled and completed Psychology 139, the psychology of women course. Assessed 36 37 upon completion of the course, this group included 6 freshmen, 2 sophomores, 3 juniors, and 8 seniors. Group 4: Post-course control subjects This group was composed of 23 women, again, all members of Psychology 160, an introductory social and personality psychology course. They were assessed at the end of Winter quarter, during the last week of classes. The group included 22 freshmen and 1 sophomore. In order to assess the impact of educational level upon subjects' identity, androgyny, and story scores, the freshman, sophomore, junior, and senior women from the previously described groups were included, as well as women from two additional groups: Groups 5 and 6: Upper level women These two groups totalled 19 women, mostly seniors, who were solicited from Psychology 439, "Selected Topics in the Psychology of WOmen." Taught by a female instructor (Dr. Elaine Donelson), the course took place during Spring term, 1978. Eight of these women (Group 5, which included 1 junior, 6 seniors, and l graduate student) were assessed at the beginning of the term; nine women (Group 6, which included 2 juniors, 6 seniors, and I graduate student) were assessed at the end of the term. Procedure Experimental subjects Subjects in the pre and the post experimental groups (Groups 1 and 3) were strongly encouraged by the instructor to participate in this study. At the end of the first class meeting, the class was randomly divided in half. Half of the subjects stayed for approximately an hour, and they 38 completed the instruments. The data provided by three male subjects were not included in the subsequent analysis. Toward the end of the quarter, the instructor requested that those class members who had not participated in the initial assessment do so then. This group was given complete instructions about filling out the instruments and were allowed to take the research packets home, complete them, and return them to the instructor. The writer estimates that approximately six subjects failed to return the completed instruments. Control subjects The control subjects, Groups 2 and 4, all volunteers from Psychology 160, received two experimental credits for their participation in this study. Each group met in an available classroom in Olds Hall for approximately an hour, the time it took to complete all the instruments. As noted earlier, the pre-course control subjects (Group 2) were assessed early in the term, while the post-course control subjects (Group 4) were assessed later in the term. Upper level women The instructor for Psychology 439 distributed the research packets, together with complete instructions for filling them out, to her class members. The women took the packets home, filled them out, and returned them to the instructor. Eight women (Group 5) followed this procedure early in the term, while nine women (Group 6) followed this procedure toward the term's end. 39 Instruments A number of paper-and-pencil instruments were employed in this study. These included: A demographic information questionnaire This is a 13 item questionnaire, devised by the experimenter, which solicited information concerning the subject's age, her marital, racial, and educational status, her religious and political affiliations, and the self-reported strength of these religious and political views. Also included were questions concerning the subject's family size, the number of brothers and sisters in her family, the subject's birth order, and whether or not the subject's mother had been employed outside the home. Identity achievement measure This instrument is a revision of a Q-sort instrument, devised by Wessman and Ricks (1966), consisting of five items reflecting successful, and five items reflecting unsuccessful resolution of each of Erikson's first six stages of psychosocial development (60 items total). The wording of the items, revised from the original, was the same as that used by Brahms (1978), who, in previous research of the instrument, found that subjects were often confused by the wording of the original version. The original instrument had also been devised for use among male subjects only. A number of the items, in their initial state, would have been difficult for female subjects to respond to (both versions of the instrument are included in the Appendix to this study). In her study, Constantinople (1969) substituted a 7-point scale for the Q—sort format and found that the alternative method yielded data 40 comparable to that obtained with the original instrument (correlations between the Q-sort and 7-point forms for 53 pilot subjects ranged from .68 to .97 for the six subscales concerning the fourth, fifth, and sixth Eriksonian stages). This study, too, utilized the 7—point format. Subjects were asked to indicate the number, from one ("Never, or almost never true of me") to seven ("Always, or almost always true of me"), to describe how characteristic or uncharacteristic the word or phrase was of her. The ratings of the five items for each of the twelve subscores were then summed to obtain twelve subscale totals (Trust, Mistrust, Autonomy, Shame and Doubt, Initiative, Guilt, Industry, Inferiority, Identity, Role Diffusion, Intimacy, and Isolation). Constantinople notes that the psychometric status of the Eriksonian measure is, "adequate, but not impressive." Test-retest reliabilities (the interval between testings was six weeks) for the six subscales for the three stages she considered as being most central to college students (Industry, Inferiority, Identity, Role Diffusion, Intimacy, and Isolation), ranged from .45 for Role Diffusion to .81 for Intimacy, with a median reliability of .70 (N was 150). No validity estimates "...the degree of congruence have been made for the subscales, although, found by Wessman and Ricks between these data and those for other psycho- metric devices and clinical data is encouraging." (Constantinople, p. 359) Research by others as well as by Constantinople indicates that the instrument has some construct validity. Constantinople further notes that social desirability set seemed to have some, although not an over- whelming, influence on the scores obtained from her subjects. 41 Separate factor analysis of the data for males and females revealed three clear bipolar factors, reflecting basic trust vs. basic mistrust, industry vs. inferiority, and intimacy vs. isolation. An identity factor was clearer among males than among females, and, in subsequent analysis, clearer among seniors than among freshmen. In the present study, this writer found the psychometric properties of the Eriksonian instrument to be less adequate and less impressive than did Constantinople. Table 2 includes reliability alphas for each of the twelve subscales. Table 3 includes means, standard deviations, and the range of scores, both possible and actual, based upon the total sample of 106 women. As can be seen, Autonomy, Role Diffusion, and Isolation were the weakest of the subscales. Trust, Initiative, and Industry arose as the strongest of the subscales, with the remaining subscales falling .in between. Table 4 includes intercorrelations among all twelve of the subscales, together with the M and F scales of the Bem Sex Role Inventory. TABLE 2 Reliabilities of the Subscales of the Eriksonian Identity Measure Successful Unsuccessful Trust .613 Mistrust .592 Autonomy .348 Shame .401 Initiative .652 Guilt .403 Industry .711 Inferiority .590 Identity .598 Role Diffusion .330 Intimacy .417 Isolation .381 42 TABLE 3 Means, Standard Deviations, and Ranges on Identity Subscales for the Entire Sample __ ACTUAL Possible X SD MIN. MAX. Range_ Successful Trust 25.31 4.34 14.0 35.0 5.35 Autonomy 24.90 4.14 14.0 34.0 5.35 Initiative 27.76 4.44 12.0 55.0 5.35 Industry 27.08 4.39 15.0 35.0 5.35 Identity 27.07 4.19 14.0 35.0 5.35 Intimacy 28.12 3.76 15.0 35.0 5.35 Unsuccessful Mistrust 12.66 4.71 6.0 27.0 5.35 Shame 17.03 4.25 7.0 27.0 5.35 Guilt 15.00 4.65 7.0 26.0 5 35 Inferiority 15.67_ 4.98 6.0 30.0 5 35 Role Diffusion 15.98 3.99 6.0 25.0 5.35 Isolation 13.66 4.12 6.0 26.0 5 35 It might be noted that the majority of significant correlations are found to exist between a number of the Eriksonian subscales and the M scale. Trust, Mistrust, Autonomy, Industry, and Inferiority all correlate significantly with the M scale. The Initiative and Identity subscales are significantly correlated with both the M and the F scales, although in both cases, the stronger relationship is with the M scale. 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