Sex differences in the pathways toward identity and intimacy achievement

Abstract

Sex differences in the levels of identity and intimacy achievement, in the developmental order for resolving the Identity vs. Role Confusion and Intimacy vs. Isolation polarities, and in the role of demographic variables in these aspects of human development were studied in a population sample of highly educated young adults. Previous research suggested that sex differences in these areas would not be observed in highly educated men and women (Tesch and Whitbourne, 1982).;It was hypothesized that sex differences in the relationship between identity and intimacy would be observed. Men would follow Erik Erikson's (1968) developmental sequence, achieving an identity before developing a capacity for intimacy. Women would either merge or reverse these tasks.;The 50 subjects were all first through fourth year medical students at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Boston University School of Medicine. They were recruited using an announcement letter and return postcard left for all students in their mailboxes. Volunteers completed the Marcia Identity Status Interview. It is a 90 minute, tape-recorded, semi-structured identity development measure (Marcia, 1964, 1966, 1970, 1976). They also completed the Holt Intimacy Development Inventory, a self-report intimacy questionnaire (Holt, 1977). All interviews and questionnaires were coded using detailed scoring manuals for each measure.;Results, although not highly significant, suggest that sex differences in the developmental order for addressing the identity and intimacy polarities may exist in a highly educated sample of young adults. Using the overall scale of identity compared with the overall scale of intimacy, men appeared to follow the pattern of high identity-high intimacy or low identity-low intimacy scores while women tend to follow the pattern of low identity-high intimacy scores (F = 3.3, p {dollar}<{dollar}.08).;The results were interpreted as moderately supporting the notion of sex differences in human development. Men and women may appear similar and share increasingly similar opportunities, but powerful social and environmental influences continue to steer them down different developmental pathways, and result in measurably different entities.