Volume 31, Issue 1 (3-2024)
RJMS 2024, 31(1): 1-10 |
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Research code: 0
Ethics code: IR.IAU.SARI.REC.1403.113
Clinical trials code: 0
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Kabiri Qomi N, Zargham Hajebi M, Mirzahosseini H. Clarifying the Relationship between Attachment Quality and Self-Identity in Adolescents. RJMS 2024; 31 (1) :1-10
URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-8583-en.html
URL: http://rjms.iums.ac.ir/article-1-8583-en.html
Associate Professor, Department of Psychology, Qom Branch, Islamic Azad University, Qom, Iran , Zarghamhajebi@gmail.com
Abstract: (366 Views)
Background & Aims: Experts in psychology and educational sciences believe that the period of adolescence is the most sensitive, critical, and most important period of development for every human being. Many of these changes, which include sexual behavior, puberty, and extensive social changes, such as spending more time with peers and spending less time with parents, are signs of the process of adolescent identity acquisition. Adolescence is a critical period for developing a sense of identity, an iterative process that relies on the development of skills such as self-reflection and self-evaluation. The consequences of identity development include personal ethics, awareness of one's strengths and challenges, and ultimately independence. Identity formation is a lifelong process that becomes increasingly prominent during adolescence. Marcia considers identity to be a combination of beliefs, values, roles, behaviors, and various cognitive, moral, and practical skills that become coherent and combined during adulthood and make a person feel he should find continuity with his past and draw his direction concerning the future. Exploration and commitment are the main variables in Marcia's model of identity bases. By using the exploration component, the teenager in a critical situation seeks possibilities and alternatives for the previous identity, and with the commitment component, he invests in a particular identity, in the formation of the identity, Marcia is in line with Erikson. It emphasizes the role of crisis and the existence of this variable in different areas of adolescent life. In the course of achieving identity, especially in complex societies, a person faces an identity crisis, and in this situation, a teenager experiences a transient period of turmoil and suffering before establishing values and life goals. In addition to the personality traits of people as an internal base, several external structures such as family, peer groups, friends, media, and teachers play an effective role in the formation of identity. Despite the extensive research that examines the characteristics of the development of "Self" identity in adolescents, few researchers examine the patterns of "Self" identity development and its relationship with various individual and environmental factors that are theoretically important for identity development. In general, previous research has emphasized the importance of multiple predictors (socio-economic status, parent-child relationships, language skills, gender) of identity development. Adolescence is a stage of transition between childhood and adulthood and is characterized by numerous and multidimensional developments. Identity development is also one of the important developments that occur in this stage of growth. Identity is created through the process of exploration and commitment, under the influence of a wide range of close or distant contextual factors. Although some research examines the characteristics of the development of the "Self" identity in adolescents, few researches examine the patterns of the development of the "Self" identity and its relationship with various individual and environmental factors that are theoretically necessary for growth. Identity is important, has shown. Therefore, the main goal of this research was to explain the relationship between the quality of attachment and my identity in teenagers.
Methods: In terms of purpose, this research is in the category of applied research, and in terms of the data collection method, it is descriptive-correlation research. The statistical population was all the second-secondary students of Qom City studying in the academic year of 2022-2023. Their number was 7809 (4148 girls and 3661 boys) and the number of the statistical sample was 366 using Cochran's formula. The research tools include the expanded objective questionnaire of the identity database (second edition), and the questionnaire of adolescents' attachment to parents and peers. Pairwise relationships of variables were evaluated with the Pearson correlation test and the conceptual model of the research was tested with a path analysis test in Imus software.
Results: The findings of the research showed that there was a significant relationship between the quality of attachment and early identity style at the 95% confidence level. A positive and significant correlation existed between attachment quality and early identity style.
Conclusion: Entering adolescence is associated with important changes such as sexual maturity, intimate relationships with peers, risk-taking, and new cognitive abilities. These massive changes force the teenager to think about unity and stability in his definition and seek to form his identity independently from others. Erikson considers identity unity against "role confusion" to be the conflict of adolescence, and based on that, the conflict between "identity unity" and "role confusion" in adolescence is the crisis of adolescence. In many teenagers, elements of identity are fixed and they achieve a personal and professional identity, but the inability to resolve this conflict leads to confusion in the role of identity for the individual. Following him, Marcia carefully explained this conflict empirically and described four aspects or solutions (identity bases based on the two dimensions of search and commitment) about social roles. These four databases include the successful identity database (existence of search and commitment), database in search of identity (existence of search and absence of commitment), advanced identity database (absence of commitment and existence of search), and confused identity database (absence of search and commitment). A successful identity as an indicator of having a flourishing and evolving personality has the highest psychological value, and confusion as a lack of success in the transition from adolescence to adulthood has the lowest psychological value. The advanced identity is higher than the confusion of the evolution level and the database in the process of identification is also at a higher level than the advanced identity which was proposed by Balbi. In childhood, attachment relationships are formed only with the child's primary caregivers, but from adolescence onwards, attachment relationships expand to peers and other people. Secure attachment to parents and peers in adolescence and adulthood will bring positive consequences in a person's life. Safe attachment relationships are associated with life satisfaction, seeking social support from peers, and psychological health. Safe attachment of teenagers to their parents is an effective factor in actively solving problems and is effective in increasing the self-esteem of teenagers. Compatibility with educational programs in the university and emotional compatibility are also related to safe attachment relationships between parents and teenagers. These relationships cause a person to search in his inner and outer world with a sense of security and comfort. People with insecure attachment have less searching power compared to secure people. Disturbance in search behavior destroys the process of a person's courage and flexibility and prevents him from testing and learning from experience. Therefore, the absence of warm and friendly parents will be associated with problems in searching for questions related to identity, commitment, and relationships with people, and most of these people will have a confused identity. On the other hand, the formation of identity in this period can affect a person's attachment relationships, because at this age, the teenager revises his initial relationships, and for this reason, his level of secure attachment to others, especially his parents, changes. Both the bases of identity and attachment change with age. With increasing age, people move from unfavorable identity bases (confused and advanced) to favorable and advanced identity bases (finding identity and successful) and it is usually at the end of adolescence that people achieve a successful identity. They do the level of secure attachment of people also changes in adolescence due to the emergence of new attachment relationships with peers and other people. Several empirical studies support the importance of friendship and bonding in the development of adaptation, especially during childhood and adolescence.
Methods: In terms of purpose, this research is in the category of applied research, and in terms of the data collection method, it is descriptive-correlation research. The statistical population was all the second-secondary students of Qom City studying in the academic year of 2022-2023. Their number was 7809 (4148 girls and 3661 boys) and the number of the statistical sample was 366 using Cochran's formula. The research tools include the expanded objective questionnaire of the identity database (second edition), and the questionnaire of adolescents' attachment to parents and peers. Pairwise relationships of variables were evaluated with the Pearson correlation test and the conceptual model of the research was tested with a path analysis test in Imus software.
Results: The findings of the research showed that there was a significant relationship between the quality of attachment and early identity style at the 95% confidence level. A positive and significant correlation existed between attachment quality and early identity style.
Conclusion: Entering adolescence is associated with important changes such as sexual maturity, intimate relationships with peers, risk-taking, and new cognitive abilities. These massive changes force the teenager to think about unity and stability in his definition and seek to form his identity independently from others. Erikson considers identity unity against "role confusion" to be the conflict of adolescence, and based on that, the conflict between "identity unity" and "role confusion" in adolescence is the crisis of adolescence. In many teenagers, elements of identity are fixed and they achieve a personal and professional identity, but the inability to resolve this conflict leads to confusion in the role of identity for the individual. Following him, Marcia carefully explained this conflict empirically and described four aspects or solutions (identity bases based on the two dimensions of search and commitment) about social roles. These four databases include the successful identity database (existence of search and commitment), database in search of identity (existence of search and absence of commitment), advanced identity database (absence of commitment and existence of search), and confused identity database (absence of search and commitment). A successful identity as an indicator of having a flourishing and evolving personality has the highest psychological value, and confusion as a lack of success in the transition from adolescence to adulthood has the lowest psychological value. The advanced identity is higher than the confusion of the evolution level and the database in the process of identification is also at a higher level than the advanced identity which was proposed by Balbi. In childhood, attachment relationships are formed only with the child's primary caregivers, but from adolescence onwards, attachment relationships expand to peers and other people. Secure attachment to parents and peers in adolescence and adulthood will bring positive consequences in a person's life. Safe attachment relationships are associated with life satisfaction, seeking social support from peers, and psychological health. Safe attachment of teenagers to their parents is an effective factor in actively solving problems and is effective in increasing the self-esteem of teenagers. Compatibility with educational programs in the university and emotional compatibility are also related to safe attachment relationships between parents and teenagers. These relationships cause a person to search in his inner and outer world with a sense of security and comfort. People with insecure attachment have less searching power compared to secure people. Disturbance in search behavior destroys the process of a person's courage and flexibility and prevents him from testing and learning from experience. Therefore, the absence of warm and friendly parents will be associated with problems in searching for questions related to identity, commitment, and relationships with people, and most of these people will have a confused identity. On the other hand, the formation of identity in this period can affect a person's attachment relationships, because at this age, the teenager revises his initial relationships, and for this reason, his level of secure attachment to others, especially his parents, changes. Both the bases of identity and attachment change with age. With increasing age, people move from unfavorable identity bases (confused and advanced) to favorable and advanced identity bases (finding identity and successful) and it is usually at the end of adolescence that people achieve a successful identity. They do the level of secure attachment of people also changes in adolescence due to the emergence of new attachment relationships with peers and other people. Several empirical studies support the importance of friendship and bonding in the development of adaptation, especially during childhood and adolescence.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Clinical Psychiatry
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