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The good child as the unidentified patient in the family system: A study of childhood antecedents of adult alienation from self

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The good child as the unidentified patient in the family system: A study of childhood antecedents of adult alienation from self

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Content THE GOOD CHILD AS THE UNIDENTIFIED PATIENT
IN THE FAMILY SYSTEM: A STUDY OF CHILDHOOD
ANTECEDENTS OF ADULT ALIENATION FROM SELF
by
Deborah Robin Winograd
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(Education— Counseling Psychology)
August 1988
Copyright 1988 Deborah Robin Winograd
UMI Number: DP25260
All rights reserved
INFORMATION TO ALL USERS
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a note will indicate the deletion.
Dissertation Publishing
UMI DP25260
Published by ProQuest LLC (2014). Copyright in the Dissertation held by the Author.
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E d
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W 776
? I
This dissertation, written by
Deborah Robin Winograd
under the direction of hsx Dissertation
Committee, and approved by all its members,
has been presented to and accepted by The
Graduate School, in partial fulfillm ent of re
quirements fo r the degree of
D O C T O R O F P H IL O S O P H Y
Dean of Graduate Studies
DISSERTATION COMMITTEE
Chairperson
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY PARK
LOS ANGELES, CALIFORNIA 90089
THIS DISSERTATION IS DEDICATED TO THE MEMORY OF MY FATHER
SY WINOGRAD
ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
The support, guidance and love of many individuals
were essential ingredients of this dissertation. I would
like to first thank my doctoral committee members, Betty
Walker, Ph.D., Frank Fox, Ph.D. and Dean Barbara Soloman,
Ph.D. for their support and advice. I wish to especially
express my appreciation to my advisor, Dr. Walker, for
serving as a motivator and role model for me during my
graduate studies; to Dr. Fox for his availability to me as
a guide and coach in statistics and research methodology;
and, to Dr. Soloman, who took time out of her busy
schedule as Dean of the Graduate School to offer me her
wisdom.
I would also like to extend a special thank you to
Scott Fraser, Ph.D. who graciously offered me his help and
afforded me access to the undergraduate psychology subject
pool. My appreciation is also extended to Drs. Robert
Smith and Harold Urman for their consultation with me on
the statistics of the dissertation. j
I also wish to acknowledge my former therapist, Dr. |
Joan Denson, who a long time ago skillfully guided me to
iii
the realization that I could achieve any goal I chose.
Her empowering guidance was invaluable to me.
My love and gratitude are also extended to my family.
This work is as much theirs as mine. My father, Sy
Winograd, died just a few months prior to the completion
of this dissertation; his life and death was an integral
part of this research. I hope he knew and somehow knows
that. I thank my mother, Libbie Winograd, for her love
and support throughout this long and arduous process. Her
words and understanding have always been a source of
strength for me. And I thank my brother, Cary Winograd,
for allowing me glimpses of his true genius and sensitiv
ity as we have grown up. He has been my teacher.
My family of friends were also invaluable comrades
during the writing of this dissertation. I would specifi-
i
cally like to thank Julianna Quinn for the gift of her I
t
loving and supportive friendship. And I would like to
extend my love, respect and gratitude to Dr. Beth Cohen.
Words can only inadequately capture the essence of what
her presence has meant to me during this process. I have
finally recognized genuine love and support.
And finally, I would like to express my gratitude and
appreciation to each of the 350 individuals who served as J
subjects in this research. I thank them for taking the <
iv
time to complete my rather lengthy questionnaire and
allowing me a glimpse of their psyches.
i
i
v
TABLE OF CONTENTS
Page
DEDICATION........................................... ii
ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ............................ iii
LIST OF TABLES...................................... ix
LIST OF APPENDICES........................................... X
ABSTRACT............................................. xi
CHAPTER
I
II
INTRODUCTION
Statement of the Problem ....
Background of the Problem . . .
Importance of the Study ....
Theoretical Orientation ....
Conceptual Assumptions ........
Objectives .....................
Definition of Key Terms ....
Good Child Role ...........
Empathy ...................
Private Self-Consciousness
Public Self-Consciousness .
Masculine Sex-Typed ....
Feminine Sex-Typed ....
Androgynous ...............
Undifferentiated ........
Foreclosure Identity Status
Moratorium Identity Status
Diffused Identity Status
Achieved Identity Status
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
Paradigm of the Study ........
Object-Relations Perspective
Family Systems Perspective
Alienation From Self ...........
2
6
8
13
15
16
17
17
17
18
18
18
19
19
19
20
20
20
21
22
23
26
29
35
VI
CHAPTER
Child Compliance...................... 45
Self-Identity ............................ 49
Identity Development ............... 50
Ego-Identity Status ................. 55
Gender Differences in the
Development of Self-Identity . . . 58
Self-Consciousness ....................... 62
Empathy.............................. 67
Psychoanalytic Perspective ........ 68
Client-Centered Perspective ..... 72
Social Psychological Perspective. . . 73
Gender and Empathy............. 74
Hypotheses............................ 77
III METHODOLOGY................................ 80
Design .................................. 80
Procedure............................ 80
Subjects.............................. 81
Pilot S t u d y .............................. 83
Instrumentation .......................... 85
Good Child Role Inventory........... 86
Emotional Empathy Scale ............. 90
Self-Consciousness Scale ........... 95
Bern Sex-Role Inventory ............. 98
Psychological Screening Inventory . . 102
Objective Measure of Ego
Identity Status ..................... 110
Limitations of the Study................... 115
IV RESULTS..................................... 117
The Experimental and Control Groups . . . 117
Results Relating to Hypothesis I ........ 119
Results Relating to Hypothesis II .... 125
Results Relating to Hypothesis III .... 126
Results Relating to Hypothesis IV .... 127
Results Relating to Hypothesis V .......... 128
Results Relating to Hypothesis VI .... 131
Results Relating to Hypothesis VII .... 131
Results Relating to Hypothesis VIII . . . 132
Results Relating to Hypothesis IX .... 133
Results Relating to Hypothesis X .... 134
vii
CHAPTER
V DISCUSSION 14 0
Good Child Role Inventory............... 141
Profile of the Good C h i l d ............... 141
Empathy and the Good Child R o l e ....... 14 3
Gender and the Good Child Role ........ 14 6
Mental Health of the Good C h i l d ........ 148
Self-Identity and the Good Child Role . . 154
Concluding Remarks ............... 158
REFERENCES........................................... 159
APPENDICES........................................... 177
viii
LIST OF TABLES
Table Page
1 Demographic Profile of Subjects ........... 82
2 Chi-Square Analyses of Childhood Religion
and Good Child Role Status................. 12 0
3 Chi-Square Analyses of Ethnicity and
Good Child Role Status..................... 121
4 Chi-Square Analyses of Good Child Role
Status and Four Prosocial Behaviors
During Childhood, Adolescence and
Adulthood.................................. 122
5 Chi-Square Analyses of Good Child Role
Status and Four Antisocial Behaviors
During Childhood, Adolescence and
Adulthood.................................. 12 3
6 T-Tests of Mean Scores on Adult Dependent
Variables and Good Child Role Status .... 129
7 Chi-Square Analyses of Adult Dependent
Variables and Good Child Role Status .... 130
8 Discriminant Function Analysis of
Predictor Variables of Good Child Role
Group Status................................ 13 6
9 Pearson Intercorrelation Coefficient
Matrix of the Research Variables .......... 139
ix
LIST OF APPENDICES
Appendix Pacre
A Research Participant Information Form . . 178
B Demographic Profile of Pilot Subjects . . 180
C Good Child Role Inventory............... 182
x
ABSTRACT
This research initiated the empirical study of the
good child as the other-oriented, self-alienated individ
ual. It examined the relationship between the antecedent
experience of participating in the role of the extraordi
narily good and compliant child in the family system and
later personality characteristics.
Subjects were 307 undergraduates who completed the:
(1) Demographics Profile; (2) Self-Consciousness Scale;
(3) Emotional Empathy Scale; (4) Bern Sex Role Inventory;
(5) Good Child Role Inventory (developed and validated for
this research); (6) Psychological Screening Inventory;
and (7) Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status.
Results indicated that individuals who participated
in the good child role could be differentiated from con
trols on the basis of certain early experiences and adult
characteristics. Gender differences were found to be
associated with the good child role; more females than
males participated in this role. Individuals who partici
pated in this role were more conforming, self-sacrificing,
i
eager to please others and obedient during childhood.
They typically had excellent conduct records and good
academic grades. They were more sensitive to parental
needs than to self needs while growing up.
xi
During adolescence these individuals were more con
forming, obedient and eager to please others. Their
adolescence was characterized by the absence of the typi
cal adolescent rebelliousness of cohorts.
During young adulthood these individuals were more
obedient and eager to please. They had greater empathic
capacity and public self-consciousness. No differences
were found between the psychological adjustment of these
adults and controls. The subjective commentaries of these
adults typically revealed that participation in the good
child role afforded them a positive sense of identity?
however, they emphasized the psychological pressure and
self-sacrifice of the role.
The concept of the unidentified patient was introduced
by this research to refer to the family member with
overly-adaptive, compliant and non-assertive behavior
i
(characteristic of the good child role). This research
proposed that this prosocial behavior may sometimes be
indicative of internalizing pathology (as the anti-social
behavior of the identified patient is indicative of exter
nalizing pathology). The adaptive behavior of some
individuals in the good child role may lead to self
alienation and be symptomatic of an underlying defensive j
i
posture in need of further study.
xii
! CHAPTER I
I
! INTRODUCTION
I
I
i Contemporary conceptions of mental health have
iassigned high value to self-actualization. The mere
j absence of psychopathological symptomatology is no longer
the sole criterion for evaluating mental health. Dis
orders of the self that restrict an individual's freedom
to realize his or her full human potential are conse
quently at the forefront of current psychosocial inquiry
j (Hersen, Kazdin, & Bellack, 1983). Psychodynamic theor
ists have suggested that some individuals become alienated
from their True Selves as a result of certain childhood
experiences (Horney, 1945, 1950; Miller, 1981; Winnicott,
1960). This exploratory research has addressed the rela
tionship of the possibly self-alienating antecedent exper-
! ience of having been in the role of the extraordinarily
good and compliant child in the family system to subse
quent adult personality characteristics. An exhaustive
i
! review of the relevant literature has revealed no empiri-
I
| cal research addressing this topic.
I
The relationship between participation in the good
I child role and psychopathology has been explored in this
2
research. It has not been suggested, however, that all
good children can be characterized as psychopathological.
A distinction has been made between the good child (whose j
I i
' behaviors happen to be "good" and in accord with parental !
I i
| and social dictate) and the good child role (which some
i
1
| children are motivated to assume in order to secure famil
ial recognition and approval). This research has specifi
cally sought to address those individuals who as adults
report that they were restricted by this role and its
concomitant expectations, such as maintaining an image of
goodness and often suppressing natural, sometimes dis-
j
pleasing behaviors, in order to secure parental approval
I
and love. This research anticipated that individuals who |
i
participated in the good child role compose a rather 1
heterogeneous group. This study has been specifically
interested in the subgroup of the population of "good**
i
children who as adults often report that they are dis
tressed because their psychological growth has been ham-
i
pered by participation in this role. j
!
j Statement of the Problem I
I
| Achenbach (1982) has described two classifications of j
l '
childhood psychopathology. The first classification is j
i
! referred to as externalizing psychopathology; this type of
! psychopathology manifests itself in difficult, willful and I
assertive behavioral symptomatology. The second classifi
cation is referred to as internalizing psychopathology;
this type of psychopathology manifests itself in easy,
timid and nonassertive behavior. It is a contention of
I
I this research that some children with internalizing psycho-
i pathology are often misjudged and unattended to by the j
j
I mental health profession. Research in child psychopathol-
I
ogy has typically focused on children referred to mental
health facilities for psychological treatment (Lobitz &
Johnson, 1975). The most common reasons for referral are
parental reports of aggressiveness towards others, academic
i
problems, physical destructiveness, disobedience to adult I
authorities, temper tantrums, high rate annoying behaviors
and, to a lesser degree, community rule violations (Rogers,i
i
1 . . . . i
Forehand, & Griest, 1981). Thus, a child with internal
izing pathology is not likely to be referred to a mental
health facility and therefore not likely to be studied.
The identified patient in the family system has
received a great deal of attention in the family therapy
literature. This child is identified as the symptom- |
! bearer of the family who acts out the pathology of the
I
family system (Goldenberg, 1980). This family member with :
1
j overt "symptoms" has been termed the family scapegoat; his j
| I
; or her misbehavior has been viewed as a defense against a j
! dysfunctional family unit or parental dyad (Jacobson & |
4
Bussod, 1983). Conduct disorders and academic under-
achievment are typical reasons for this type of child
!
|coming to the attention of the mental health system, as
mentioned above.
i
There is another type of child, however, who has
received little attention in the research and clinical
i
]practice of mental health professionals. This child is
I
(described as the "good," "overly-adaptive,1 1 "compliant,”
"conforming," "self-effacing," "obedient" family member
(hereafter referred to as the good child). The good child
often fails to elicit the attention or concern of
i
psychologists because this child's prosocial behavior is
typically appreciated and reinforced within the family and
academic systems. Individuals who have been assigned and
have adopted this role in childhood may fare well in the
early family and academic environment, however, if this
posture is perpetuated to adulthood (as most early pos
tures are) it can become a source of exquisite pain if and
1
when the search for self in adolescence or adulthood
begins. It can therefore be argued that the child engaged
i
I i
i predominantly in compliant, prosocial behavior (similar to 1
! j
| the child engaged in noncompliant, antisocial behavior) j
; !
| may too have adopted this as a defensive posture. How- j
ever, this type of defense is socially adaptive and has j
! not traditionally been viewed as deviant or pathological.
5
Bosznormenyi-Nagy (1973) published a clinical profile
i
of a family who entered family therapy with the present-
i
|ing problem being an adolescent daughter— the identified
|
;patient— who was acting-out. In this profile,
!Bosznormenyi-Nagy included description of the other sib- !
i
I
I lings in the family. The following excerpt from this
profile is on the youngest child in this family system:
The family pet, the "darling" of the family was
Susan, age 10. No one had any complaints about i
her. They unanimously agreed that all the family
conflicts had left her untouched. If the thera
pists asked Susan to speak directly to an issue
which had been raised, one family member "auto
matically" answered for her. The answer was
always that Susan didn't know, it didn't bother
her, she couldn't care less, etc. When the
therapists asked why she was not permitted to
answer for herself, Susan would begin to weep for
the remainder of the session, without a word
coming from her. In response to her tears,
family members would try to humor her out of
them; Mrs. J. said, "it is ridiculous, Susan had
no reason to cry." It was as if they uncons
ciously silenced her because they could not bear
i to hear that she too might also have worries and
troubles. Thus Susan remained loyal to her fam
ily by going along with the disconfirmation of *
her total being. By treating Susan almost as a |
nonperson, her own wishes, fears, and needs as a
I 10-year-old girl were made to appear nonexis-
I tent."
This case illustration poignantly typifies the child
i
that this research has attempted to study. j
(
I Good children, who often appear to have unremarkable, j
i i
seemingly asymptomatic childhoods, often as adults pre- j
i I
j sent to psychotherapists with feelings of emptiness, ;
6
depression, and lack of a sense of self (Miller, 1981) .
This research has attempted to empirically address these
types of individuals who have previously been only clini
cally and/or theoretically discussed. This study has
I
introduced and established the term— the unidentified
patient— to describe the individual who develops a dis-
j order of the self as a result of having been in the role
: of the good child. This exploratory study has attempted
i
to describe the good child role, and to examine any rela
tionship between a child's being in this role and unique
aspects of his or her subsequent adult personality.
Background of the Problem
The psychodynamics of the good child remain unknown. j
Again, no empirical data exist on this topic although some
theoretical works and common psychoclinical discourse have
acknowledged and addressed the issue. There is, however,
a growing theoretical and empirical study of self dis
orders, particularly of narcissism. This speculative j
i
section has borrowed from this rich literature in order to j
speculate on the etiological dynamics of the good child. j
j
| Miller (1981) has also casted the other-oriented individ- i
i
ual within this same literature. |
i Kohut (1971, 1977) has asserted that self pathology I
i j
| begins early in development. It is created by empathic
7
failures in early parent-child relationships. According
to Kohut, an authentic, capable, and vital self can only
be erected if the "mirroring" and "idealizing" needs of
the child are responded to by the parents.
Failures in maternal empathy and appropriate mirror
ing result in a disconfirmation of a child's developing
self. The child comes to feel not loved for his or her
genuine self, but only loved when he or she performs in
such as a way to elicit parental approval. Self-esteem
then becomes based on possession of certain qualities and
not on the authenticity of one's own feelings (Miller
1981). Horney (1952) has written extensively on this
process of alienation from self. She has observed that
the child represses his or her most basic feelings in this
process. The child develops according to the needs of the
caretaker, which brings security, but prevents the child
from being true to his or her own self. The child is
deprived of his or her uniqueness and subsequently
develops into a cognitively and intellectually intact but
feelingless tool of his or her environment. This type of
self has been referred to as an as-if other (Deutsch,
1934) , a False Self (Winnicott, 1967) and an idealized
self (Kohut, 1971). Caretakers who have not evolved to a
mature stage of ego development cathect their children as
distanced aspects of themselves, not as separate others
8
(Burlingham, 1935). The child conforms to expectations
in order to appease the psyche of the parent.
j
! Importance of the Study
I
! The psychodynamics of the adults who were in the role
| of the good child in their families of origin remain
! unknown. Again, no empirical data exist on this topic
j although some theoretical works and common psychoclinical
discourse have acknowledged and addressed the issue. Much
emphasis has been placed in contemporary culture on self-
absorbed or self-possessed individuals. The modern popu
lation has been characterized as narcissistic (Lasch,
1979). However, there is a clinically observable segment j
of this population— currently unmeasured and undefined—
that does not overtly appear to be self-absorbed or self-
possessed. These individuals appear to be other-oriented
!
and other-pleasing as opposed to self-oriented. This
group of individuals can theoretically be differentiated
from genuinely altruistic individuals with high social |
concerns. These individuals clinically appear to have |
i
become other-oriented as a result of early defensive adap- j
^ i
, I
j tions for safety and survival in the world. j
I I
I Other-oriented individuals are clinically observed to !
i !
i be hypervigilant of the other's needs and behaviorally !
| flexible enough to adapt to those needs. Individuals
differ in the degree to which they monitor, through self-
observation and self-control, their expressive behavior
I and self-presentation (Snyder, 1979) . Individuals high in
; self-monitoring and public self consciousness are reported
i
to regulate their expressive self-presentation for the
sake of desired appearance to others, and therefore are
thought to behave in ways that are highly sensitive to
interpersonal cues and to situationally appropriate per
formances. Individuals low in self-monitoring are
reported to lack the ability or the motivation to regulate
their expressive self-presentational behaviors. These
individuals are reported to display expressive behaviors
that truly reflect their own attitudes, traits, feelings,
and other inner states (Gangestad & Snyder, 1985). High
self-monitoring individuals have been found to be more
sensitive than low self-monitoring individuals to shifts
in what constitutes "good” performance in a social situa
tion. High self-monitoring individuals have been shown to
exhibit and report greater behavioral variability across |
situations where behavioral domains of what constitute I
I
l
social appropriateness vary (Gangestad & Snyder, 1985). !
i
In other words, high self-monitoring individuals have high 1
I perceptive and adaptive abilities. !
| i
Snyder and Campbell (1982) have suggested that indi- j
! viduals high in self-monitoring tend to adopt a pragmatic
10
interpersonal orientation; they create social interaction
patterns that facilitate situationally appropriate inter-
i
|action outcomes. Individuals low in self-monitoring tend
|to adopt a principled interpersonal orientation; there is
ja high correspondence between their feelings and attitudes
and their social behavior.
!
High self-monitors may be described by what has been
I popularly termed the "chameleon effect." Chameleons are
lizards that are characterized by their adaptive ability
to change to the color of their immediate environment. i
High self-monitors are similarly not self-consistent; they
are excessively adaptive and their behavior varies with
the situation they are in and/or with the individual they
i
are with.
Jourard and Landsman (1980) have addressed the
adverse effects of high self-monitoring or self-
consciousness. They have acknowledged that the ability to
i
observe the flow of one's own experiencing has some adap
tive and adjustive value; however, excessive and habitual j
self-vigilance hinders sponteneity. It restricts individ- |
i
uals from acting until they have first checked out the j
ramifications and consequences of their behavior. These j
| authors have suggested that it is the aim of the healthy
i personality to be able to reflect upon experience when it
I
i is appropriate to do so, and to engage unself-consciously
like a child in action when there is no real need to
reflect. According to Jourard and Landsman, healthy
action is without premeditated effort to create impress-
I
I ions in the experience of the other. An object of this j
i
|study has been to examine the private and public self-
;consciousness of adults who assumed the role of the good
i
child in their families of origin.
A major intent of this study has also been the exami
nation of the selves or the identities of individuals who
were more sensitive to their parents' needs than to their j
i
own needs while growing up. Miller (1981) has hypothe
sized that these types of individuals are highly empathic.
This research has attempted to empirically assess this
hypothesis by measuring the empathy of such individuals J
and comparing it to that of a control group.
This research has also addressed sex differences in
the assumption of different roles within the family. It
has also examined sex differences in adult self-definition
and identity. Aries and Olver (1985) have characterized i
females as having more difficulty than males in developing
j a separate sense of self.
i
| According to these authors, self-definition for
females has been characterized as embedded in relation-
I |
I ships and the emotional responses of others; self- j
I !
1 definition for males has been characterized as having more !
distinct boundaries between self and others (Bardwick,
|1971; Douvan, 1972? Douvan & Adelson, 1966? Gilligan,
1977? Gutmann, 1970? Hoffman, 1972). They have further
observed that females have a greater tendency than males
i
|to have difficulty in knowing what they genuinely want or
!feel apart from what others expect or approve (Wolowitz,
1972). This would suggest that in this study gender,
I specifically femaleness, would be highly correlated with
being the good child. Fezler and Field (1985) in their
book, which is based on their clinical observations of
what they call the adult "good girl syndrome," have sug
gested that there is an emotional epidemic of adult
females who feel dissatisfied and unappreciated because
they have spent their childhoods and adulthoods self-
sacrificially doing what others have expected them to do.
This research has differentially examined the issue
of gender and sex-role identity to empirically determine
whether it is gender and/or sex-role that has a relation
ship to the good child role.
The identification of factors that interfere with the
development of an autonomous, genuine sense of self in
females and males is important because societal norms and
clinical judgements offer high value on the ability to
i
function autonomously and objectively (Broverman,
Broverman, Clarkson, Rosenkrantz, & Vogel, 1970).
13
Theoretical Orientation
i
*
I The present study has adopted a theoretically inte-
;grative approach to this research with the use of family
i
systems and object relations theories. The formal study
of disorders of the self has remained almost exclusively
|within the psychodynamic realm of inquiry. The present
I study has attempted to extend and integrate the study of
!the self to another theoretical realm— family systems
i
theory.
The impact of the family on development recognized in
this study has been best summarized by Lidz (1976) who
stated:
The family forms the earliest and most persistent !
influence . . . all subsequent experiences are
perceived, understood, and reacted to emotionally
according to the foundations established in the
family. The family's ways and the child's
pattern of reacting to them become so integrally
incorporated in the child that they can be con
sidered determinants of his or her constitutional
makeup, difficult to differentiate them from the
genetic biological influences with which they
interrelate.
i i
Object-relations theory asserts that early childhood !
relationships, especially with an individual's parents
(objects) shape later adult relationships. The focus is
j on interpersonal relationships and the internalization of
! i
| these experiences which result in an internal, intra- j
I
I
I psychic world. Object relations, through the process of
14
internalization, result in intrapsychic structures (ego
functions and cognitive structures such as object and
I
j self-representations) that direct the nature of subsequent
|
!interpersonal experiences (Blatt & Lerner, 1983).
i
Eisendroth (1980) has noted that the interaction
I between between family process, individual psychodynamics,
i
'and object relations theory becomes evident in the treat-
t
iment of individuals who have been significantly damaged in
growing up. The interaction between intrapsychic and
interpersonal factors has been emphasized in this
research? specifically, the cycle by which pathological
i
family relationships cause intrapsychic conflict and mal-
adaptions and subsequently yield further interpersonal
failure has been examined. The interactions between an j
I
individual's psyche and family role assignment and the
adaptions that evolve in that person in exchange for love
and security has been explored. Friedman (1980) has sug
gested that object relations theory and family systems
i
theory are ultimately complementary, analogous to the j
relationship of the wave and particle theories of light. |
Psychodynamic theories lead to detailed understanding of |
meanings and provide depth? however, they do not thor- '
; oughly address the effects of on-going relational pro- |
i
cesses in problem maintenance. Family systems work
J clarifies interpersonal transactions rapidly, gaining
15
breadth while losing depth. The integration of both these
perspectives enables the use of each of their unique
strengths to gain understanding into the psychodynamics of
childhood and adulthood.
Conceptual Assumptions
This research has been developed and conducted under
the basic concepts and assumptions of family systems and
object relations theories (described in a preceding chap
ter) .
A major conceptual assumption and clinical judgement
of this study has been that of the crucial role of child
hood, particularly the early interpersonal matrix, in the
development of the adult personality and in the genesis of
psychopathology. The assumption of causality in psycho
logical research must be made cautiously. There are epi
demiological/longitudinal data, however, that have sug
gested causal links between early environment and person
ality outcome (Rutter, 198 6). It should be noted that
even though these associations have been reported, some
children, even in the most seriously adverse environments,
do not develop psychological disorder. Therefore, the
relationship of childhood to adulthood discussed in this
study is an assumption of the research and its guiding
theories.
16
Objectives
1. To introduce and establish the concept and term—
"the unidentified patient"— into the literature in order
i
1 to call needed attention to the plight of the non-acting
out, overly-adapted, good child.
i
| 2. To classify subjects (by means of the Good Child
!Role Inventory) into an experimental group (those who
were the good children in their families of origin) and
into a control group (those who were not the good children
in their families of origin); and then to:
I a. Explore and describe characteristics of the
good child in the family system which include:
(1) gender; !
i
(2) birth order;
(3) academic record, conduct record;
(4) adolescent rebelliousness; I
(5) retrospective self and family descrip
tions; and
b. examine the relationship of having been in
the good child role in the family of origin (the indepen
dent variable) to the adult characteristics (the dependent
I ]
i
: variables) which include: |
: I
l (1) empathy; 1
<
i i
[ (2) self-consciousness;
17
(3) sex-role identity;
(4) psychological status; and
i
| (5) ego identity.
I 3. To examine the relationship of the dependent
f
jvariables to each other.
»
Definition of Key Terms
I I
j Good Child Role
i
The good child role, as defined by this research, is
one category of a family role structure that an indiviudal
may consciously or unconsciously assume or be assigned to.
It describes the child who engages in prosocial behavior
and causes the family no overt problems. In relation to
cohorts or siblings (if they are present) this child is a j
i
model of goodness, nondemandingness, and obedience. This
i
child adapts and complies to parental wishes and needs.
Empathy
Empathy is defined in this research study as a vicar
ious emotional response to the perceived emotional experi
ences of others. Specifically, Olden (1953) has offered
the following definition:
| Empathy is the capacity of the subject instinc- j
! tively and intuitively to feel as the object |
1 does. It is a process of the ego, more specifi- !
cally, an emotional ego expression. As to its j
functioning: the subject temporarily gives up j
J his own ego for that of the object. i
18
Private Self-Consciousness
This term refers to the aspect of self-consciousness
that has been identified as a cognitive, private mulling
.over and monitoring of the self. It describes the focus
on thought and reflections that deal solely with the self
;(Fenigsten, Scheier, & Buss, 1970).
i
i
I Public Self-Consciousness
i
This term refers to the aspect of self-consciousness
that emphasizes individuals' views of themselves as social
objects. The concern is on the self as a social object
that has an effect on others (Fenigsten et al., 1970).
j Masculine Sex-Typed
This term refers to those individuals who describe I
themselves predominantly in terms of masculine psychologi
cal qualities (Bern, 1975; Spence & Helmreich, 1978).
These qualities are considered more desirable in American
i
culture for males than females. These individuals have
self-concepts which are defined by the stereotypic sex
role standard of what is considered to be appropriate for |
! the masculine gender (Bern, 1974). Typical masculine sex- j
I i
j
| typed characteristics include such qualities as competi-
i
j tiveness, independence, aggression and assertiveness.
19
Feminine Sex-Typed
This term refers to those individuals who describe
themselves predominantly in terms of feminine psychologi
cal qualities (Bern, 1974? Spence & Helmreich, 1978).
These qualities are considered to be more desirable in
American culture for females than males. These individ
uals have self-concepts which are defined by the stereo
typic sex role standard of what is considered to be appro
priate for the female gender (Bern, 1974). Typical femi
nine sex-typed characteristics include such qualities as
sensitivity, understanding and compassion.
Androgynous
The term androgynous refers to psychological andro
gyny in this research (Bern, 1974, 1975; Spence &
Helmreich, 1978). Individuals who are androgynous are
described as possessing both stereotypically masculine and
stereotypically feminine qualities to an equivalently high
degree. These individuals are observed to exhibit both
masculine and feminine behavior based upon situationally
appropriate criteria (Bern, 1975).
Undifferentiated
This term refers to those individuals who are
described as possessing stereotypically masculine and
stereotypically feminine qualities to an equivalently low
20
degree (Bern, 1975; Spence & Helmreich, 1978). These indi-
1viduals are observed to exhibit few of the characteristics
traditionally associated with either masculinity or femi-
j ninity.
I
j Foreclosed Identity Status
j
j This term refers to a stage of ego identity develop-
i
ment. An individual classified as foreclosed is one who
has never experienced an identity crisis, but is nonethe
less committed to certain identity elements such as occu
pation or religion. The commitments that foreclosed indi
viduals make are usually reflective of the desires of
their parents or other authority figures (Waterman &
Archer, 1979).
Moratorium Identity Status
i
This term refers to a stage of ego identity develop
ment. An individual classified as in moratorium is cur
rently in a state of self-perceived crisis and is actively
J searching among alternatives for a commitment to an iden-
' tity (Waterman & Archer, 1979).
Diffused Identity Status
This term refers to a stage of ego identity develop-
1 ment. An individual classified in identity diffusion is
i
! not committed to anything and is not actively attempting
21
jto make a commitment to an identity (Waterman & Archer,
|1979).
!Achieved Identity Status
i
1 This term refers to a stage of ego identity develop-
i
iment. An individual classified as an identity achiever
has emerged from an earlier period of crisis with rela
tively firm identity commitments. This individual is
viewed as having made a commitment to a choice based on
active exploration of alternatives (Waterman & Archer,
1979).
f
CHAPTER II
REVIEW OF THE LITERATURE
This review of the literature has focused on the
areas of theory and research pertinent to each of the
major variables examined in this study. The integrative i
paradigm of this research has been addressed first with a
review of the major ideas associated with a perspective
combining object relations and family systems theories.
The major concepts associated with each of these individ
ual theories has then been presented. The second part of
this review of the literature has examined the theoretical
and clinical writings that have discussed adults who have
experienced alienation from self due to childhood conform
ity to the needs and expectations of others. Empirical
research on variables related to alienation from self such j
as gender, compliance and the concept of authenticity have
also been reviewed. There have been relatively few writ
ings (no empirical studies) on the independent variable—
the good child— available to review. This review of the j
I literature has therefore also over-viewed the theoretical
and empirical literature on the major dependent variables
I studied in this research. These variables include
23
empathy, self-consciousness, self-identity and gender
I
|differences. The final section of this review has expli
cated the general hypotheses of this study which have been
i
!generated from questions derived, in part, from the lit-
! i
, I
Ierature reviewed. !
I
i
j Paradigm of the Study
Kuhn (1970) has stated that scientific truth is not
based on data alone, but on a frame of reference. There
fore, the explication of the paradigm within which this
research has been conducted and interpreted is important,
j Psychoanalysis has historically regarded individual
i
personality as a closed system of mental representations
rooted in a somatic core of biological tensions (Ashbasch,
1987). This intrapsychic model is a product of Cartesian
i
epistemology in which the observer and observed are sepa- j
rate entities; the individual in this view is then a self-
contained unit. In an interactive, integrative model of
individual personality, the phenomenological and gestalt |
principle of the unity of the observer and observed is I
; preserved; the individual in this view is then a dual
j unity of inner experience and group life. The good child,
! within this integrative model, has been viewed in this
| study as a product of a complex, circular field of intra- !
I 1
! personal and interpersonal forces and counter-forces.
Aschbasch (1987) has developed a conceptual schema
that has linked and integrated family systems and object
i
jrelations. He has suggested that the centrality of inter-
!action in linking individual and family processes yields a
I
trisystemic model of object relations. This idea purports
that through interpersonal relations the inner world of an
i
I individual becomes transformed into social experiences and
i
systems and, conversely, family or group experience comes
to be personally and internally represented. The two
dimensions of inner and family life are linked by an
interface made up of verbal and non-verbal interactions
linking family members. The good child, in this view,
early on cannot be examined in isolation from family. The
early interpersonal matrix of the good child, particularly
the primary infant-caregiver relationship, molds and is
i ,
molded by the intrapsychic world of the infant. The emo
tional world of the infant, therefore, is composed of an
internal system, an external system and an interactive
i
| system all operating simultaneously.
i
1 Duhl and Duhl (1981) have indicated that individuals
are subsystems of the family, and these subsystems them
selves contain subsystems such as levels of awareness and
J conscious and unconscious experience. Additionally,
within the individual are subsystems of relationships that
i reflect the experience of relationships at different
developmental levels in the family of origin. These
internalized relationships seek expression in current
J relationships. This notion is important to this research
:which has attempted to reveal the internalized and per-
i
petuated relationship system of the adult who was the good
child in the family of origin. The same early dynamics
I
may be re-enacted in adult relationships. The field of
observation of these adults is therefore necessarily in
1 i
the context of their past and present interpersonal rela
tionship matrix.
The paradigm of this research has taken into account
the principle of complementarity in the multi-dimensional
nature of family relations by adopting an integrative
l
perspective. The concept of complementarity has been
derived from quantum physics. It refers to the observa
tion that when one systematically changes the conditions
of observation and experimentation, the phenomenon under
study shows opposite, contradictory processes. For
i
example, depending on one's frame of reference or context j
i
of observation, the family or the intrapsychic system will I
i
best account for behavior; however, closer examination of |
I i
' the field of observation will reveal a complementary field j
which exhibits both characteristics. This research has j
j attempted to take into account the complementary fields of |
i
i the intrapersonal and interpersonal. i
26
Obiect-Relations Perspective
A significant revision and extension of psychoanalytic |
| . '
j theory has occurred in the past 20 years primarily through
i the integration of traditional psychoanalytic theory with
neo-Freudian, interpersonal theory (Blatt, 1974;
Fairbairn, 1954; Guntrip, 1969; Winnicott, 1965). This
integrated theoretical perspective has resulted in a
broadened, psychodynamically-based, developmental theory
and a systematic psychology of the self (Balint, 1952;
Kohut, 1977; Winnicott, 1971). The unigue clinical mani
festations of patients with disorders of the self have
historically perplexed the traditional psychoanalytic
community. Ferenczi has been described as the first
< . I
psychoanalyst to report that there were some patients j
1
whose pathology could not be explained in terms of the
vicissitudes of the Oedipal Complex and whose problems did
not respond to interpretations focused on psychosexual
conflict (Basch, 1984). These patients typically left j
i
therapy dissatisfied, or with superficial therapeutic
results; they have typically been described as unanalyz-
able by the traditional psychoanalytic community. Freud
I himself acknowledged that psychoanalysts were helpless i
i I
| when confronted with patients who required gratification
instead of insight. According to Freud, healthy develop- i
ment depended on the sublimation of psychic energies |
27
derived from sexual and aggressive instincts. Individ
uals, who by nature needed direct and immediate gratifica
tion, were put into conflict with culture. Freud's inter
pretation of the transference neurosis that developed with
psychoneurotic patients attended to the struggle between
id and ego. Kohut (1971) described the self-disordered
i
i
patient as not being the victim of a struggle between id
and ego, but as having an ego or self defect as a result
of early inadeguate familial relations.
Object relations theory refers to a psychodynamic
theory of personality which suggests that an infant is
capable of interpersonal relating from birth. This theory
has rejected the Freudian notion of a narcissistic, self-
absorbed infant. Recent research findings have confirmed
the intellectual and psychological competence of infants
as initiators and partners in human relationships (Tronick,
Heidelese, & Brazelton, 1977). Object relations is a model
of human personality— an imaginative construction that
gives individuals a way of thinking and working
(Sutherland, 1963). Object relations theorists have
increasingly downplayed the traditional Freudian reduc-
!
tionist, intrapsychic mechanisms of mental illness and
i
'have pointed to the influence of early object relations in
!the development and maintenance of disorders of the self.
i
IThis has represented a major departure from traditional
28
analytic thinking. These theorists have challenged funda
mental precepts central to psychoanalysis. Freud (1898)
abandoned his seduction theory and replaced it with the
|intrapsychic conflict of the Oedipus Complex. Freud then
t
jposited that most parents did not in fact abuse their
^children to fulfill their own needs. Children, rather,
projected unwanted, repressed feelings onto parents due to
unresolved Oedipal conflict. The crucial emphasis became
the child's intrapsychic conflicts and drives as opposed
to the more interpersonal emphasis of object relations and
the parents' failure to adequately meet essential needs of
the child.
The term— object relations— reflects the theoretical
movement away from a model of the individual as isolated
and biologically (instinctually) motivated toward a per
spective that acknowledges the individual's interpersonal
relations. The term, in general, refers to various
theories that rely upon the central concept that the ego
is capable of relating to an external object from birth.
Sutherland (1980) has credited the development of object
Irelations theory to Fairbairn (1952, 1954), Balint (1952),
I
|Winnicott (1965b, 1971), Guntrip (1969) and Klein (1932,
1948). The term technically refers to the mental repre
sentations of the self and the other (object) that an !
i !
I individual has internalized based on early relations with i
29
primary caretakers. Internalization is the process by
which elements from the external world (the world of
objects) become part of the internal psychic structure of
the inner world of an individual (Meissner, 1979).
Family Systems Perspective
The fundamental tenet of a family systems perspective
is that psychopathology is best understood as a manifesta
tion of disturbance in the family (Haley, 1976; Minuchin,
1974; Stanton, 1981; Watzlawick, Weakland & Fisch, 1974).
Symptoms in individuals are viewed as being generated by
pathological family systems. The identified patient— the
family member with "symptoms”— is little more than the
messenger or family scapegoat. The symptoms of the iden
tified patient serve the function of covering up the more
generalized family disturbance. The functional value of
this child's symptoms is generally beyond the awareness of
all family members (Jacobson & Bussod, 1983).
This view of symptoms is quite distinct from the j
i
I
traditional view of psychoanalysis. The image for psycho- J
i
analysis has been the individual as a layered set of
structures, with character formed by the conflict of j
stage-specific drive aims with social reality as elabor- j
ated in fantasy. In this perspective, the process of j
I
i
development is understood in terms of linear causality.
30
Symptoms are viewed as meaningful personal expressions.
The perspective of family therapy is that there is an
I
1 interactive context of development, that there is circular
causality and that there are certain patterns of action.
Symptoms are viewed as functional interpersonal expres-
j sions. This research has sought to examine and describe
i the functional interpersonal expressions of the good child
!
i that may not be manifested in overt symptomatology.
i
The family therapy notion of symptoms as functional
reflects a view of families as complex interpersonal sys
tems. The family system is stabilized and organized
according to implicit rules governing the behavior of all
family members in their interrelationships with one
another. The roles and functions of the behavior of each j
i
family member are related by a series of interconnected
feedback loops that defy simple linear causal explanations |
i
(Jackson, 1958). I
i
Family roles. Karpel and Strauss (1983) have iden
tified the role structure of a family as a highly signifi- j
|
cant aspect of family structure and function. The term j
i i
i role structure is used to refer to the roles which are
i
| assigned to and assumed by individuals in the family and |
I the relationships between or among these roles. These
! familial types of roles are usually more permanent, less
)
flexible, and generally less conscious than those social I
31
roles or presentations of self that individuals assume in
! social contexts.
j Karpel and Strauss have further written that familial
| roles are relatively significant and permanent because
jthey are very closely tied to an individual's sense of
i
I identity. Roles organize who an individual feels she or
' he is and how she or he behaves; roles also organize who
| others feel an individual is and how they act towards that
I
individual. Some families have nicknames or pet expres
sions which capture the essence of the role that an indi
vidual plays within the family. An individual, for
example, may be viewed and described as the "golden boy,"
the "black sheep," or the "family worrier." These nick
names are viewed as encapsulating complex and permanent
role structures. Common childhood roles which have been
identified as occurring in seemingly different families
include; the infantilized child, the parentified child,
and the scapegoat.
I
4
! The development of roles within a family is an
i
| extremely complex process which involves interactions
] between members, intrapsychic experiences within members,
i and multigenerational legacies. The beginnings of the
4
I . ....
: creation of a family role is initiated when one or more
family members need someone to fill the role. Karpel and
Strauss offer the following examples: a mother who needs
32
a dependent, insecure infant; a father who needs a paren
tal figure to care for him; a couple who need someone to
i
| blame for their problems. When needs such as these exist,
I
| one of the most powerful and common ways that has been
j identified to get a member to assume the role is through
i what Laing (1969) called "attributions." This involves
I
| not telling the family member what to do, but repeatedly
telling him or her who he or she is.
The family member who assumes a role within a family
also has responsibility for the assumption of that par
ticular role. Roles are not necessarily forced upon indi
viduals. A child, for example, may assume a particular
role and participate accordingly in the family out of a
sense of loyalty to other family members; the child may
understand on some level that this sacrifice is necessary
for the stability of some members or for the family as a
whole. Additionally, the roles assumed by different fam-
| ily members, however pathological, generally have some
t
I specific rewards associated with them. Some roles, for
] example, carry with them the freedom to act out, a sense •
t 1
j of security and protection and a sense of importance and I
! !
| responsibility. These roles, most importantly, bring with |
' them at least some form of attention, identity, and
; belonging. These are significant motivational factors and |
i
I reinforcing units for the assumption and retention of j
33
these familial roles. The role of the good child in the
J family is also expected to have positive rewards as well
^ as negative consequences and ramifications.
Roles in families are often complementary; in order
I
| for one individual to assume a particular role, she or he
may need another family member to assume a complementary
I role. One member, for example, can only be the 1 1 strong"
j one if another member is the "weak" one, or one member can
i
only be the "good" one if another is the "bad" one. It is
therefore expected that in this research, subjects who
were in the role of the good child will report having
siblings (or parents) who were "bad" or acted out.
i
I
Roles, as discussed above, are related to identity j
i
and often are complementary. These are major reasons
j offered to explain why family members often resist inter
ventions to change another member's pathological role.
If, for instance, the identified patient is relieved of
j his or her role as the troubled or bad one, other individ-
|
j uals in the family may face a threat to their own recipro- j
! cal roles, and therefore, to their own senses of identity,
j There is then a familial investment, possibly, in keeping
! i
j the "bad" child bad and the "good" child good. I
Role of the good child. Boszormenyi-Nagy (1973) has \
written extensively on different roles within the family
system. He has studied and described a number of family
34
roles in his book, Invisible Loyalties, which is a fre
quently cited work in the field of family therapy. He
I devoted, however, only two brief paragraphs of this book
i to illuminating the role of the ideal or good child in the
I family. Bosznormenyi-Nagy acknowledged the lack of
! research on this category of role assignment. A recent
; exhaustive review of the literature has revealed that this
|
| family role has continued to be ignored.
Bosznormenyi-Nagy (1973) characterized the good child
as the asymptomatic child who causes the family no overt
problems. This child is typically depicted as the good
student. This child is often referred to as a model of
goodness and nondemandingness in relation to siblings who
express a full range of feelings. The family most often j
minimizes and denies the needs and inner feelings of this
child.
*
Miller (1981), m Prisoners of Childhood, has stated
that in some families the "good" child is the one who
i
sacrifices the needs and wishes of his or her true self.
i
These children fulfill their parents7 conscious or uncon
scious wishes. The "bad11— truly egoistic child— is the
one who often goes against the wishes of his or her par- j
| ents and gratifies his or her own desires. The parents of t
I . I
! "good” children are sometimes unaware that they may need
i
! and use the child to fulfill their own egoistic desires.
Miller has further written that sensitive children
raised by such caretakers naturally do not want to lose
j their parents' love and protection and therefore very
|early on learn to share, to give, to make sacrifices and
i
j to be willing to do without and forego gratification.
I
i This is all done prematurely, according to Miller, for
I young children are by nature incapable of true sharing or
sacrificing. It is not, paradoxically, the "bad" child,
but the "good" child, who is at risk for alienation from
self.
Alienation From Self
j Horney (1945) described neuroses as being generated by
j disturbances in human relationships; she had departed from
j a drive-defense theory of neuroses to a perspective which
i
placed primary emphasis upon early interpersonal rela
tions .
Horney (1942, 194 5, 1950) wrote that early on in
development individuals combat anxiety and maintain secur
ity and survival in the world by developing various coping
strategies. She organized these types of coping strate
gies into three groups on the basis of the predominant
j mode of relationship: expansive, effacing or resigned. A |
!
j child, according to Horney, may choose to: (1) "move !
I
! towards others" in a self-effacing solution of love and I
36
compliance; or (2) "move against others” in an expansive
.solution of mastery and aggression? or (3) "move away from
i
j others" in a resignation solution of freedom and detach-
'ment. These strategies, according to Horney, then become
i
ipermanent parts of the personality. Clustered around each
i
j
i coping strategy are neurotic needs or irrational solu
tions. For example, central to the "moving towards
j others" solution is the neurotic need for approval and
I
affection and the restriction of life to narrow borders.
Central to the "moving against others" solution is the
need for power, omnipotence and personal admiration and
achievment. Central to the "moving away from others" \
solution is the need for self-sufficiency and unassaila-
bility. j
i
Horney, based on an individual's predominant inter- j
i
personal mode of relationship, postulated three types of
self pathology: expansive, effacing or resigned. This
research has sought to examine the predominant inter
personal mode of individuals who participated in the role
I of the good child while growing up. It is expected that
i
j this type of individual will be more likely to have
i
| adopted an effacing posture in the world. Healthy indi-
| viduals, according to Horney, are able to integrate the |
! i
: three solutions and use them appropriately in context.
1 The neurotic individual rigidly adopts only one solution J
37
across situations. Horney wrote that an individual
adopts a "moving towards others" solution to deal with a
mother whose love is conditional. The child must adapt
j his or her behavior to maternal needs and desires to gain
I
| love and approval. The child begins to create a false,
i
i idealized self based on and compatible with the mother's
:needs.
!
j Horney placed the origin of self-disorders in the
early interpersonal matrix of the child (DeRosis, 1981).
Horney viewed children as being moved by an insatiable
curiosity. The child becomes intimately connected to the j
i I
i world in the process of exploring curiosities and estab- j
! !
lishing spontaneous human relationships. The self and the j
world interact in order to transform both the world and
the self. Neither the self nor the world are static con
cepts or constructs. Horney believed that the child's
self must be permitted to participate in this creative
work of transforming spontaneous impulses into meaningful
connections with people and things in the world. Within i
I
appropriate limits, Horney felt that parents and teachers !
i
need to grant children the freedom to pursue "curiosity
laden, wholeheartedly experimental, and creative growth"
i I
i (DeRosis, 1981). The good child of this research could |
I i
i possibly be restricted in this creative growth due to the |
I
I
; emphasis on obedience and pleasing others. Horney indeed '
38
cautioned parents about demanding blind obedience from
their children. She felt that this would encourage chil
dren to become automatons and this would cause them to
spend most of their time and energy struggling to retain a
sense of themselves and to keep their creativity and free
dom alive. According to Horney, when a child relinquishes
i
his or her freedom to be creative and to choose, so begins
(at least partially) the creation of a false self and an
idealized image. The child sacrifices personal needs and
feelings in exchange for acceptance by the parental
figure.
Horney (1935) stated that cultural and familial pres
sures encourage females, in particular, to adopt an effac
ing coping strategy. Horney wrote,
There may appear certain fixed ideologies con
cerning the "nature" of women; that she is
innately weak, emotional, enjoys dependence, is
limited in capacity for independent work and
autonomous thinking. It is obvious that these
ideologies function not only to reconcile women
to their subordinate role, but also to plant the
belief that it represents a fulfillment they |
j crave, or an ideal for which it is desirable to
j strive. (193 5)
i
I Horney (1950) furthered her questioning of cultural
j and familial sex role prescriptions for females. Horney j
i spoke of the "tyranny of the should" that females are
' i
often ruled by. Females feel that they should be femi-
I
j
nine (according to societal definition) and restrict j
i
39
spontaneous personal growth to focus upon the idealized
socially acceptable image of the "should" and not upon the
|real self. This research has sought to examine the gender
differences in the adoption of effacing postures in the
world.
Horney foreshadowed the recent interest in self
psychology with her writings on self-realization and self
alienation. Most recently the concept of the selfobject
has been emphasized in the process of self-alienation.
Self disorders, as previously described, result from
deficiencies and distortions in optimal empathic respon
siveness and optimal frustration in the parent-child dyad.
The term selfobject has been used to refer to the individ
uals (usually parents) in the early environment who are
experienced as a part or extension of the self by the
infant. An optimal self-selfobject matrix is essential
for the development of a healthy self.
Atwood and Stolorow (1984) have suggested that, "When
the psychological organization of the parent cannot suffi
ciently accommodate to the changing phase-specific needs
of the developing child, then the more malleable and vul-
!nerable child will accommodate to what is available" .
i
,(P- 69).
i
j In the interactive paradigm of this research, the
jchild and the family are viewed as systems. If the child
40
as a system is examined, the major dysfunctions that have
occurred between the child and parents, or between the
parents themselves, or in the sibling inter-play, may be
! mirrored in the internal world of the child and constitute
i
|a disorder of the self. If the family as a system is
i
! examined, then the child may be viewed as having become a
i i
selfobject for the family. This is less than optimal for
the self-development of the child; the optimal state is
i
for the parent(s) to serve as soothing and growth-
enhancing selfobjects for the child. As the child
develops and becomes an adult she or he is likely to con
tinue to seek out selfobjects that replay the unhealthy
dynamics of early family relations. If the good child
serves as a selfobject for parents and mirrors and
accommodates to parents and their needs, she or he may
continue to seek out relationships in which she or he is
primarily gratifying the needs of the other and thereby
continuing to sacrifice personal needs. The early dys-
!
I
: functional self-selfobject matrix becomes reinforced }
i !
because the child gains parental approval with the ability !
j j
; to mirror the narcissistic parent. The child may assume j
the role of the good child and later assume the role of
the good spouse, parent, etc. Mirroring and adapting to
others become a way of being and relating in the world.
This way of being and relating in the world may
! unfortunately serve to impede self development and crea-
I
*
| tive growth. Criteria for the evaluation of a healthy
*
self have been offered in self theory (Cleghorn,
j Bellissimo, & Will, 1983). Specific formal functions have
i
I been designated as essential in the development of a
j t
j healthy, cohesive self. The following nine questions were
designed to elicit information on self functioning: (1)
Can one regulate self-esteem adequately? (or in the case
of the good child, is self-esteem regulated by the other,
specifically the pleasing of the other); (2) Are there
internalized, reliable self-soothing capacities?; (3) Is
there a sense of being an integrated unit in time and
space?; (4) Is the person an independent recipient who
forms his or her own impressions? (or in the case of the
good child, are impressions perhaps based on what others
think); (5) Is there a solid sense of meanings and
ideals?; (6) Is one an independent initiator of actions?
i
j (or in the case of the good child, are actions perhaps j
selected to not offend others, are actions then dependent |
reactions to others); (7) Can one self-generate patterns
of initiative or ambitions? (or in the case of the good i
! child, are they perhaps based and generated upon the 1
I !
I desires of others); (8) Is there a sense of shared human- ;
I |
ness in sharing skills and talents?; (9) Is there
42
congruence and harmony of ideals and ambitions with a
person's unique skills and talents, thus allowing an
unfolding of creative capacities (or in the case of the
! good child, are unique creative talents perhaps not
!
j realized due to over-adaption to others' desires). The
I individual who participated in the role of the good child
in the family of origin may be too other-oriented and
focused to be in touch with self-centered, authentic feel-
i
ings and inspirations that lead to spontaneous and crea
tive acts. The true selves of such individuals, with
aliveness and uniqueness, may be thwarted in the service
of the false, adaptive self.
True and false self. Although writers such as
; Miller and Horney have referred to the notion of a True
versus a False Self, the psychodynamic concept of authen-
j
ticity remains controversial. Freud's concept of person
ality as inevitably constituted out of conflicting inner
demands suggests that full aliveness or personal expres
sion is impossible because some impulses must inevitably
be defended against in the social human (Haven, 1985). A
debate in the psychoanalytic literature exists over
whether one can have authenticity if one has superego (if
| one has to sublimate or repress id instincts or desires
for the demands of civilization). Winnicott (1965)
j addressed this issue. He viewed the compliant or False
i
43
' Self as "a pathological version of that which is called in
|health the polite, socially adapted aspect of the healthy
jpersonality” (p. 225). This normal False Self can be a
f
I case of ”not wearing the heart on the sleeve" (p. 143).
i
| According to Winnicott, what feels real to a child is an
jid impulse that occurs to the child when it is relaxing.
! The infant is able to become unintegrated, to
I flounder, to be in a state in which there is no
I orientation, to be able to exist for a time
without being either a reactor to an external
impingement or an active person with a direction
of interest or movement. The stage is set for
an id experience. In the course of time there
arrives a sensation or an impulse. In this
setting the sensation or impulse will feel real
and be truly a personal experience. (p. 34)
It is important to note that in this perspective the
infant begins by "existing and not by reacting" rather
than by "compliance" which is the earliest stage of the
False Self and "belongs to the mother's inability to sense
the infant's needs" (p. 145).
j Winnicott has expressed that,
In seeking the aetiology of the False Self we
are examining the stage of first object-
relationships. At this stage the infant is most
of the time unintegrated, and never fully inte
grated; cohesion of the various sensori-motor
elements belongs to the fact that the mother
holds the infant, sometimes physically, and all
the time figuratively. Periodically the
infant's gesture gives expression to a spontane
ous impulse; the source of the gesture is the
True Self .... We need to examine the way the
mother meets this infantile omnipotence revealed
in a gesture (or sensori-motor grouping). I
have here linked the idea of a True Self with
44
the spontaneous gesture. Fusion of the motility
and erotic elements is in process of becoming a
fact at this period of development of the indi
vidual .... It is an essential part of my
theory that the True Self does not become a
living reality except as a result of the
mother's repeated success in meeting the
| infant's spontaneous gesture or sensory hallu
cination. (p. 145)
Winnicott has written that the True Self has a double (
origin; it originates in the id impulses and the accur-
I
I ately holding and supporting environment of the infant.
The False Self is viewed as including both the extremes of
normal politeness and false personality. The true self
i
can become so hidden that spontaneity is no longer a fea- j
, l
ture in the infant's living experience. Compliance,
according to Winnicott, then becomes the main feature; the
compliant individual "attains a show of being real"
(p. 146).
According to Winnicott, the True Self is initially
experienced through the infant's own impulses. As the
infant comes to experience its impulses as its own, a
primitive form of reflection is gained. The self is
i
thought to emerge with the impulse that is owned. If the
i infant is disallowed, however, ownership of its impulses,
I
| the True Self is attacked. This viewpoint therefore holds !
I . . . i
j that both the impulse and the primitive form of reflection
i
l called ownership are what constitute aliveness. Havens
i
(1985) has suggested that impulse without an internal 1
45
system of reflection and judgement does not constitute
full aliveness. If not reflectively owned, impulse can
I
jbecome impulsive, compulsive or repressed. This notion is
* • . . . .
' crucial to the reconciliation of the idea of an authentic
I
j self and psychoanalytic theory. With the recognition of
I authenticity as impulse with ownership, the existence of a
j
! structure such as the superego is not opposed.
j
j The authentic self, according to Winnicott, develops 1
i
from the acknowledgement of both impulse and prohibition
as one's own. The False Self is that solution of the ego
which denies either impulse or prohibition. It is theo
retically possible that the false, adaptive self of the
good child arises out of the lack of acknowledgement of
impulse in the self and the hypervigilant acknowledgement
of the impulse or need of the other. Authenticity may be
sacrificed for compliance.
Child Compliance ,
i
The writings on child compliance discussed above have :
been based on theoretical speculation of the psychodynamic ;
i
tradition. Empirical research on child compliance, how- |
I
ever, has been conducted within three major theoretical |
1
j contexts (Parpel & Maccoby, 1985). These studies have j
I
revealed that the study of parent-child interaction is the j
1 study of circular process (Maccoby & Martin, 1983).
Parents influence the behavior of children and children
influence the behavior of parents. These studies have
i
focused on examining ways of modifying the behavior of
: noncompliant children? nonetheless, they have been over-
| viewed here for the indirect information they can provide
| on compliant children.
t
I Compliance has been studied within the perspectives
I i
I of: (1) Reinforcement theory; (2) Social deprivation
i
theory; and (3) Reciprocity theory. Reinforcement
theory holds that compliance is the result of a two-part
socialization process: punishment is used to suppress
noncompliant behavior and contingent positive reinforce
ment (primarily praise) is used to strengthen the target |
j |
behavior— obedience. In other words, children obey
because they have been punished for disobedience and
rewarded for compliance. Patterson (1982) emphasized the
controlling nature of deviant behavior? noncompliant
behaviors increase when those behaviors are successful in
l
causing parents to discontinue their demanding behavior. !
i
I
Wahler (1976) emphasized the role of positive reinforce- 1
i
I
ment in shaping deviant behavior. He suggested that |
I
parental attention in response to disobedience may rein- |
; force the behavior. Both positive and negative
i
j reinforcement in this perspective are viewed as possible
i
| reinforcers of noncompliant behavior in children. It is
47
theoretically plausible then that compliant behavior of
children is also the result of both positive and negative
reinforcement from parents.
Social deprivation theory has also addressed child
compliance. Compliance is viewed as a manifestation of a
more generalized motivational state in this perspective
(Maccoby & Masters, 1970). Here it is hypothesized that
social deprivation arouses dependency or affiliation moti
vation, while social satiation reduces this motivation.
Children are viewed as being oriented toward others and in
a state of increased readiness to please others and to be
influenced by them when this affiliation motivation has
been aroused. Hartup (1958) conceptualized social
deprivation as an analogue to withdrawal of love and sug
gested that its effectiveness rested on the generation of
anxiety. This theory is consistent with the theories of
the psychodynamic writers discussed previously who empha
sized that the potential of withdrawal of love and secur
ity had a significant impact on children. Children,
specifically good children, at the extreme, are viewed as
willing to sacrifice their psychological selves in order
to secure their survival and attain the approval of their
caretakers.
Reciprocity theory has also taken up the question of
! child compliance; however, it has not yet been proposed as
i_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
48
a complete, coherent theory (Gottman, 1979). Reciprocity-
based or willing compliance has been distinguished from
obedience that is based more on situational factors such
as the promise of reward or the threat of punishment
(Maccoby & Martin, 1983). In this view, children are seen
as showing increased readiness to accept the influences of
parents if the parents have shown a reciprocal readiness
to accept the child's attempts to exert influence.
Exchange theory embodies a part of reciprocity theory
(Burgess & Huston, 1979; Jackson, 1965). In this view,
the child and parent have an implicit bargain that they
will exchange favors. These types of exchange relation
ships have been distinguished from a deeper form of
cooperation called communal relationship. It is theoreti
cally plausible that in an exchange relationship the good
child believes that she or he must give up something of
her or his self in exchange for something from the parent.
In a review of intrafamilial relationships, Aldous (1977)
concluded that in well-functioning families, relationships
are primarily of the communal rather than of the exchange
type. An interesting inquiry for future research on the
good child would be the examination of the differential
motivation for compliant behavior in children form com
munal versus exchange type families.
49
The importance of the early parent-child relationship
was emphasized by the psychodynamic theorists discussed
previously. Empirical studies on child development have
also stressed the significance of these early relation
ships on later adult life (Ainsworth, 1982; Chess, 1979;
Chess & Thomas, 1982; Kagan, 1976, 1979; Thomas, 1981;
Thomas & Chess, 1977). These researchers have also empha
sized the influences of mothers and infants on each other.
Sarnoff (1975b) described a transactional process in
which a child's temperament from birth onward is seen as
an active influence in the mother-child relationship. The
implication is that children do not merely react to their
environment but are actively engaged in trying to organize
and structure their world (Bell, 1968; Bell & Harper,
1977; Lewis & Rosenblum, 1974).
Self-Identity
Much theoretical and conceptual confusion exists in
relation to the term "identity" and "self." Both terms
have been used in a diversity of senses and are frequently
used interchangeably (Bourne, 1978). Some psychodynamic
writers (e.g., Eissler, 1958; Greenacre, 1958; Jacobson,
1964; Mahler, 1958) have discussed the development of
identity (rather than the self) in early childhood and
others have discussed the consolidation of the self and
stable self-images (rather than identity) in adolescence
I (e.g., Hauser, 1971, 1972; Wolf et al., 1972). Some
i
I
jpsychodynamic writers have attempted to reconcile the two
|concepts (e.g., Jacobson, 1964; Lichtenstein, 1961, 1963;
i
ITabachnick, 1965, 1967); others have attempted to exclude
Ithe concept of identity from psychodynamic theory of the
i
self (e.g., Gedo & Goldberg, 1973; Kohut, 1971).
Abend (1985) has reviewed the literature on the
different uses of words related to self-identity. He has
emphasized the conceptual confusion in this literature and
has encouraged researchers to precisely define the speci
fic identity term chosen for discussion. Abend (1985) has
offered a definition of self-identity that this research
has adopted. Self-identity is a mental construct composed
of all the self-representations (ideas about oneself)
which refer to the individual as a whole.
Identity Development
The starting point of most theories of identity or
self development is the psychoanalytic predication of the
existence of three psychic structures— the id, ego, and
superego. The id (present at birth) is the seat of
instinctual drives; it operates on the basis of the pleas
ure principle— the seeking of immediate gratification and
avoidance of pain. Frustration and tension result when
51
the needs of the id are not immediately gratified. The
ego, which emerges from the id, is the coherent organiza
tion of mental processes which mediates between the id and
superego and interacts with the external world (Freud,
1923/1960). The development of the ego results from the
inability of the id to gratify needs in the external
environment (leaving the individual in a state of ten
sion) . The ego operates on the basis of the reality prin
ciple which allows delay of gratification until an appro
priate object is located. The last psychic structure is
the superego; it is the conscience or judicial aspect of
personality. The superego is formed through internaliza
tion of parental and societal admonitions and standards
(Freud, 1923/1960).
The developing individual, according to Freud, passes
through five psychosexual stages— Oral, Anal, Phallic,
Latency and Genital— during which conflicts arise from
frustration of the pleasure principle. The focus of the
sexual instinct is the mouth, anus, and genitals during
the first three stages. The ego must mediate and resolve
the conflict when the pleasure derived from these zones
jcomes into conflict with parental demands. The ego's
iresolution of the conflicts leads to its further develop-
i
ment. The sexual instincts are relatively dormant during
Latency. The final psychosexual stage occurs with puberty
52
and the upsurge of sexual impulses which precipitate more
internal conflict and accompanying ego development. The
personality, according to Freud, achieves (or fails to
achieve) stability at this point. Psychosexual develop
ment is essentially completed at this point. The basic
developmental dynamics established by this stage continue
i
throughout life (given there is no psychoanalysis)(Freud,
1905/1953).
Three major problems have been associated with the
Freudian perspective of development. Firstly, this theory
of development is essentially intrapsychic and does not
sufficiently account for the impact of environmental fac
tors on development. Secondly, the theory focuses on the
id as the major structure and conflict as the major force
in development. Lastly, it suggests a closed and deter
ministic system; stability of personality is reached
before the 20th year of life.
Freudian developmental theory has served as a frame
work for other theorists who have refined and expanded it.
Erikson (1963, 1968) first proposed his psychosocial
jstages of development as an adjunct to Freud's psycho
sexual stages. Erikson viewed Freudian theory as only
j part of a model which could illuminate principles of
I psychological development. The focus of Erikson's theory
1
became the ego and its development. Erikson's writings
53
helped form the beginnings of ego psychology. The focus
was on the interaction of the developing ego with the
social environment. From an experimental point of view,
Erikson's theory can be criticized because it has relied
for validation upon subjective clinical impression and
logical argument than upon empirical data. Nonetheless,
Erikson's theoretical propositions have had wide influence
in the area of human development.
Erikson proposed a theory of development from birth
to death. He proposed a series of sequential, psycho
social stages through which an individual passes during
the life cycle. The actual age of onset and occurrence of
each stage includes individual, as well as cultural, vari
ation. During each stage there is interaction between
physical maturation, the individual's perception of the
environment and the response of the environment to the
individual. In each stage there is a crisis, a necessary
turning point, where development must precede one way or
another. Erikson proposed eight stages: Basic Trust vs.
Mistrust; Autonomy vs. Shame and Doubt; Initiative vs.
Guilt; Industry vs. Inferiority; Identity vs. Identity
[Confusion; Intimacy vs. Isolation; Generativity vs. Stag
nation; and Integrity vs. Despair.
Erikson's fifth stage of Identity vs. Identity Con
fusion is of importance to this study because the measure
54
of ego identity used in this research has been derived
from his theoretical description of this psychosocial
stage. Erikson's concept of ego identity is complex and
often not explicitly defined in the literature. Erikson
(1968) preferred not to explicitly define the term
because of its theoretical complexity. Others, however,
i
who have sought theoretical precision and operationaliza
tion of the term, have offered definitions of it (Abend,
1974; Jacobson, 1964). Bourne (1978) described ego iden
tity as having genetic, adaptive, structural and dynamic
components. The genetic aspect of the term refers to ego
identity as a developmental product or outcome incorporat
ing the individual's preadult experience over the first
stages of the life cycle. The adaptive aspect of the term
refers to ego identity as an adaptive accomplishment of
the individual within his or her social context. The
structural aspect of the term refers to ego identity as a
complex configuration of: (1) constitutional givens;
(2) idiosyncratic libidinal needs; (3) favored capacities;
(4) significant identifications; (5) effective defenses;
(6) successful sublimations; and (7) consistent roles
J (Erikson, 1968).
55
Ego-Identity Status
Marcia (1966) operationalized Erikson's (1956, 1959)
theoretical perspective on identity formation. He pro
posed four types of identity statuses. The identity
|statuses differ according to the individual's experience
|with crisis or exploration and the type of commitment
reported to occupational, political and religious values
(ideological identity). A diffused status is assigned to
an individual who reports no specific commitment and no
desire to establish one. A foreclosed status is assigned
to an individual who has made a commitment based on paren
tal expectations without having explored alternatives.
Diffused and foreclosed individuals constitute a noncrisis
group. A moratorium status is assigned to an individual
who is currently seeking a commitment but who has not yet
made a decision. An identity achieved status is assigned
to an individual who has engaged in an extensive explora
tion period and who has arrived at a personal commitment.
Moratorium and identity achieved individuals constitute a
crisis (exploration group). Adams (1985) has stated that
I
I the crisis based identity status groups are more mature
|forms of identity because they are based on a self-
!determination social process that results in greater
I psychological complexity and self-efficacy.
56
| Empirical research on the identity statuses has sug-
igested that greater individuation (in terms of ego
development, locus of control and field independence) and
personality differentiation (in terms of relationships
with others) are associated with the experience of a
crisis or exploration period (Chapman & Nicholls, 1976;
l
Ginsburg & Orlofsky, 1981; Orlofsky, Marcia, & Lesser,
197 3) . Empirical studies have shown that diffused indi
viduals with time advance to one of the two committed
statuses (Adam & Fitch, 1982; Marcia, 1976). Studies have
also shown that different parental styles can facilitate
or hinder ego identity development (Adams & Jones, 1983;
Grotevant & Condon, 1984; Grotevant, 1983; Josselson,
1973; LaVoie, 1976).
Numerous empirical investigations into the differ
ences between individuals in each of the four identity
statuses have been conducted. For example, foreclosed
individuals are closest to parents (Jordan, 1971) and
favor "parent-centered" values such as obedience and
loyalty to conventional social standards (Matteson, 1974;
!Schenkel & Marcis, 1972). There are relatively few avail-
|able findings on diffused individuals because the samples
jin most studies contain only a small number of diffusions.
However, it has been shown that they too conform in author-|
i
ity situations (Toder & Marcia, 1973) like foreclosures; j
57
yet they are more influenced by peers than by authority
figures (Bob, 1968) unlike foreclosures. Identity
achievers have been described as having a high need for
achievement (Jordan, 1971) and the highest level of moral
reasoning among the statuses (Waterman & Waterman, 1971).
Moratorium individuals score highest on self-report meas
ures of anxiety (Oshman & Manosevitz, 1974) (consistent
with the notion that these individuals are undergoing a
period of crisis in the process of formulating their own
way of life). Moratorium individuals are also found to
have high levels of authority conflict (Schenkel & Marcia,
1972) .
This research has investigated the question of
whether there is a relationship between childhood role and
identity development. This research has specifically
examined the identity statuses of individuals who were in
the role of the good child in the family of origin. The
ego identity statuses of good children are expected to
fall in the non-exploration, non-crisis groups due to the
theoretical and clinical notions that good children tend
to adapt to parental and social standards without personal
exploration.
Bios (1967) proposed an alternative psychodynamic
model of identity focused on the "second individuation
process of adolescence." Separation is basic to this
58
concept of identity— separation at the intrapsychic level
which involves disengagement from the parental introjects
[Of infancy, and separation at the object relations level,
jwhich brings with it a redirection of emotional cathexis
t
|from parents to peers. Mahler (1975) suggested that the
i
!normal outcome of the separation-individuation of infancy
I
was the internalization of the mother as a separate
object. Bios has written, however, that during adoles
cence the disengagement from this internalized parent is
the healthy outcome of adolescent separation-
individuation. Adolescent rebellion is then viewed as a
natural attempt to achieve differentiation from parents.
Both the theoretical and empirical writings on identity
formation have suggested that adolescent rebellion is a
significant factor in the development of a healthy and
autonomous self-identity. This research has examined
whether or not adults who were the good children allowed
themselves to participate in this self-centered, other-
differentiated period of adolescence.
Gender Differences in the Development
|of Self-Identitv.
Gender differences in the establishment of a separate
;sense of self or identity have been reported by a number
i
!of researchers (Bardwick, 1971; Douvan, 1972; Douvan &
iAdelson, 1966; Gilligan, 1977; Guttman, 1970; Hoffman,
L ______________________________ ___________________________
59
1972) . Gender differences, in their extreme form, in the
experience of a separate sense of self in adulthood have
been reported to pose difficulties for both females and
males. It has been observed that females find their
autonomy undermined and their needs sacrificed because
their self-definition and appraisal remain so tied to the
emotional responses of others.
Jordan (1983) has suggested that many females fail to
develop self-empathy because the pull of empathy for the
other is so powerful; the conditioning of females to
attend to others7 needs before their own is suggested as
an explanation for this. Males have been reported to have
difficulty with emotional surrender and the experience of
real empathy or connectedness with others. It is impor- I
tant to examine the dynamics of gender differences in
development that restrict self-development for females and
males. This study has specifically focused on exploring
the role of empathy (excessive empathy) in development of
self-identity. It is expected that because females have
greater empathic capacity, they will report a higher fre
quency of participation in the good child role.
1
j
! Self-definition for adult females has been described
i
i
I as embedded in relationships and the emotional responses
I
j 1
! of others; self-definition for adult males has been char- i
acterized as having more distinct boundaries between self
60
and others (Gilligan, 1977; Hoffman, 1972). Wolowitz
i(1972) has described females as having greater difficulty
i
than males in knowing what they genuinely feel and want
i
apart from what others expect or approve. Research has
documented that females tend to conform more than males to
others' expectations (Cooper, 1979; Eagly, 1978; Eagly &
i
jcarli, 1981; Maccoby & Jacklin, 1974). It has also been
1
|suggested that females depend on the responses and feed-
back of others in developing a sense of self worth; males,
on the other hand, rely on their own internal standards of
judgement (Bardwick & Douvan, 1972; Hoffman, 1972). The
negative consequence of this difference is that females
have a more difficult time establishing a separate sense
of self in adulthood; the positive consequence is that
females have a greater capacity for relatedness, emotional
closeness, and boundary flexibility (Surrey, 1983).
These gender differences in the capacity to develop a
strong sense of self in adulthood have been attributed to
differential treatment of girls and boys in development.
There is compelling clinical evidence for the existence of
differential responses of caretakers to daughters and
|sons. There is yet no clear experimental support, how-
!ever, for these differences (Aries & Olver, 1985). Macoby
i
and Jacklin (1974), in a comprehensive review of psycho
logical sex differences, have indicated that overall there
61
are few consistent findings about the differential treat
ment of girls and boys in early development, or of gender
differences in areas of behavior such as attachment and
dependency that appear relevant to the development of a
separate sense of self. Chodorow (1978), however, has
argued that this lack of consistent findings is due to the
fact that studies which document observable behavior that
can be reliably coded and counted miss more subtle differ
ences in nuance, time and quality. Aries and Olver
(1985), on the other hand, have argued that the lack of
consistent gender differences may not be due to subtlety
of behavioral expression, but to the failure on the part
of researchers to appropriately conceptualize the sequen
tial nature of self-development and to specify appropriate
parent and child behaviors for measurement within the
developmental stages.
Aries and Olver (1985) have empirically identified
gender differences in the developmental sequence proposed
by Mahler (1975). There is evidence in the existing
experimental literature on Mahler's conceptual schema of
the separation-individuation process suggesting that
mothers treat their sons and daughters differently in ways
that would facilitate the process of self development for
;
I males more than for females. The literature on adolescent ;
j and adult personality development has revealed gender
62
differences in the separation-individuation process; most
iof the theoretical and empirical evidence has indicated
Ithat this development is a more complex and time-consuming
process for females than males (Chasseguet-Smirgel, 1970;
Chodorow, 1978; Lebe, 1982).
Family roles have been described as significant
because they are closely tied to an individual's sense of
i
identity (Karpel & Strauss, 1983). The study of childhood
roles that females may be assigned and compliantly assume
is therefore important. This research has addressed the
question of whether or not females tend to be cast in the
role of the good child in the family system more than do
males.
Self-Consciousness
The focus of this research has been the other-
oriented individual. This examination of the literature
has sought to answer the question of whether or not there
are some individuals who tend to be more concerned with
the other than with the self. A body of research litera
ture related to this question is on individual degrees of
self-consciousness. A number of the concepts in this
I
;literature are also related to the concepts of the True
1 and False Self discussed in a preceding section. This
i
I
!literature is important to an understanding of the good
63
child because theoretical speculation has suggested that
jadaptive individuals tend to be more conscious and aware
of the other than of the self.
Some theorists have emphasized the role that an indi
vidual's private thoughts and feelings exert on his or her
behavior, while others have emphasized the primacy of the
individual's sense of others' desires (Greenwald, 1982).
Freud (192 0/1949) emphasized the primacy of internal and
hidden pressures on an individual's behavior. Freud
viewed behavior as being motivated by unconscious and
conscious needs to satisfy inner pressures. External
pressures are deemed secondary determinants of behavior.
A number of theorists preceding Freud further advanced
the notion that behavior is determined by internal, pri
vate needs (Allport, 1961; Maslow, 1979; Rogers, 1947).
Other theorists have assumed an opposing position and
have described the self as a reflected image of society.
According to this viewpoint, individuals choose their
behaviors by considering how they will be received by
their social environment. Cooley (1902) and Mead (1934)
were two of the first theorists to advocate this position.
All behavior was considered to be the result of the indi-
i vidual assessing how she or he would be viewed and reacted
!to by others. The self is conceptualized as being a
|social product that develops over time; individuals
64
gradually take the perspectives of others and view them
selves from that perspective. Goffman (1967) has fur
thered this point of view and has suggested that all
i
jexchanges between individuals are essentially theatrical
performances. The image chosen for portrayal is dictated
jby the context of the interaction. Also, Crowne and
Marlowe (1964) have stated that individuals behave in ways
that gain them social approval and social rewards. Other,
more recent research, has suggested that individuals
choose their behavior in order to look rational and con
sistent, and adapt to the demands of the context
(Schlenker, 1980; Tedeschi, 1980).
Scheier and Carver (1983) reviewed the empirical
research on these two extreme perspectives. They have
commented that both the extreme positions on whether
behavior is internally determined or whether it is a
reflection of the social context in which it occurs have
received support in the literature. For example, the
research has examined the variables that influence indi
viduals' responses to being asked to help another person.
I
I One variable that investigators have selected to examine
has been guilt. A sense of guilt over having previously
1 committed something wrong has been looked at as an intra-
jpersonal, private variable that would seem to be a poten-
itially significant determinant of helping behavior.
65
Researchers have indeed found that inducing guilt can
increase subsequent helping behavior (Carlsmith & Gross,
1969). Embarrassment is an interpersonal variable that
has also been examined as a potentially important deter
minant of helping behavior. This variable has also been
shown to increase helping behavior (Apsler, 1975).
Researchers have suggested that the act of helping would
seem to aid in repairing a damaged self-image; and, in the
case of embarrassment, the act of helping would seem to
aid in repairing a public image.
Scheier and Carver (1983) have suggested an integra
tive view of human behavior. They have acknowledged the
multifaceted nature of the self and have stated that
different self-facets can contribute to behavior in
different ways and in different contexts. A dichotomy has
been drawn within the construct of the self (Fenigstein et
al., 1970). This dichotomy parallels the conflict of
whether individuals are responsive to their own feelings
and beliefs or whether they are responsive to the feelings
and desires of those around them. This dichotomy relates
I
|to the distinction between private and public self-
|aspects. The public self is the socially apparent self.
i
IIt involves the elements of the self that are most
i
irelevant to motives involving self-presentation or
self-portrayal. The private self is composed of an
66
individual's own personally held attitudes, beliefs,
thoughts and other self-aspects hidden from the view of
.others. It is composed of the elements of the self that
are involved in motivational phenomena reflecting inter
nal, egocentric needs (Buss, 1980). These two aspects of
the self have been empirically investigated and validated
(Carver & Scheier, 1978? Davis & Brock, 1975; Geller &
Shaver, 1976).
Individuals differ in the degree to which they attend
to themselves or others (Scheier & Carver, 198 3). The
disposition to be self-attentive has been labelled self-
consciousness. Self-consciousness has been measured by
the Self-Consciousness Scale (SCS) (Fenigstein et al.,
I
1970) which assesses private self-consciousness (the ten
dency to be aware of private aspects of self), public
self-consciousness (the tendency to be aware of publicly
displayed aspects of the self) and social anxiety (reac
tion to the self being the focus of attention). A great
j
deal of experimental evidence has supported the construct
validity of the separate dimensions of self-consciousness
(Carver & Scheier, 1981).
Empirical research on public self-consciousness, for
* example, has shown that individuals high on this dimension
i
are more conforming than individuals high on private
j
|self-consciousness (Froming & Carver, 1981). This is
67
consistent with theoretical prediction; public self-
consciousness involves an awareness of and a responsive
ness to the impressions that are being made on others, and
therefore individuals high on this dimension would be
expected to comply with group opinion in order to avoid
social rejection. Individuals high on private self-
consciousness, on the contrary, are viewed as attending to
and relying more on internal standards, and therefore
would not be expected to comply and go along with an
incorrect majority. Scheier and Carver (1983) have
reviewed the numerous other studies on self-consciousness.
This research has investigated the question of
whether childhood role— specifically, the good child role-
-has an effect on the dimensions of self-consciousness.
Theoretical notions of the good child as other-oriented
and overly-adaptive to the needs and expectations of
others would suggest that these individuals would display
higher levels of public self-consciousness than private
self-consciousness as compared to control subjects.
| Empathy
Empathy has been studied within the theoretical con
texts of a variety of psychological perspectives. It has
received most attention in the literature of the following
schools of thought: (1) Psychoanalytic; (2) Client-
68
Centered; and (3) Social Psychological Perspective.
These three perspectives have contributed to the defini
tion of empathy and the elucidation of its dynamics. The
psychoanalytic literature on empathy has been based exclu
sively on clinical observation and theoretical dogma. The
emphasis in this literature has been on the intrapsychic
process of empathy; no measures of empathy have been
derived from these writings. The literature on the
client-centered and social psychological perpsectives have
emphasized the interpersonal process of empathy; a number
of empirically validated measures of empathy have been
derived from this literature.
Psychoanalytic Perspective
The theoretical discourse on empathy within the
psychoanalytic literature has centered around intrapsychic
processes which contribute to an empathic response. This
literature contains no empirical studies of the empathic
process; it has relied solely on clinical illustration to
attest to its validity. This has restricted the generali-
i
zation of its application; nonetheless, this literature
has offered a distinctive, in-depth analysis of the
empathic process. Empathy has been defined in this
literature as the ability to experience the momentary
psychological state of another person (Greenson, 1960;
69
Olden, 1953; Schafer, 1959). An individual is able to
feel what another feels on the basis of his or her own
remembered, corresponding affective states; this is an
emotional component of empathy. An individual is able to
understand another individual9s experience as a result of
examining the similarities that make his or her own past
experience pertinent to the current situation; this is a
cognitive component of empathy (Schafer, 1959). At a
deep, intrapsychic level the empathic individual experi
ences a temporary state of oneness with the other (Beres,
1968; Schafer, 1968) embodying a mutuality of experience
around the sharing of congruent unconscious fantasies
(Beres & Arlow, 1974). The empathic individual shares the
experience of the other "not like his own but as his own"
(Reik, 1937). Kohut (1959) referred to empathy as a pro
cess of vicarious introspection.
The psychoanalytic literature has described the
empathic process as intrapsychic and preconscious. It
occurs without the conscious intent of the empathic indi
vidual. Three phases have been identified in the empathic
process. The first phase occurs when the empathic indi-
j vidual experiences a momentary suspension of secondary
'process ego functioning. In this phase there is a diminu
tion of reality testing, defensive functioning, and the
70
maintenance of self-image; ego boundaries between self and
other become permeable. The second phase of the empathic
process is initiated by way of this increasing receptivity
to the other's experience. This phase is characterized by
a temporary fusion or identification of self and object
representations within a segregated segment of the
empathic individual's ego. During this phase the empathic
individual experiences the primary process images and
feelings that are evoked in him or her by the other (Blatt
& Wild, 1976? Sandler & Rosenblatt, 1962). The third
phase of the empathic process occurs when the empathic
individual regains secondary process control of reality;
there is a reconstitution of self and object boundaries
and reality testing. The empathic individual regains his
or her independent identity and sense of separateness from
the other.
During the final phase of the empathic process the
primary proces images and emotions evoked during the
temporary fusion arise as thoughts or fantasies within the
empathic individual's conscious awareness. Here the
jvalidity of these thoughts or fantasies can be tested
against the perceived reality of the other individual's
i
i experience. The three phases of the empathic process,
although presented above as a linear sequence, occur in a
!circular and rapid manner.
71
The empathic process ideally occurs in an oscillating
rhythm which reflects a harmonious balance between primary
and secondary process, cognition and affect, and observing
and experiencing. An empathic capacity is therefore based
on the ability to rapidly shift back and forth between
controlled and more regressive modes of experience.
The capacity for empathy has been considered to be a
highly adaptive response in the psychoanalytic literature.
An empathic individual must be secure enough in his or her
identity to both tolerate its temporary suspension and
insure its successful reconstitution (Greenson, 19 60;
Schafer, 1959). An empathic individual must possess ade
quate object relations, defensive functioning, reality
testing and affect regulation (Beliak & Hurvich, 1969).
An empathic individual must also possess an adequately
developed altruistic motivation. Altruism has been sug
gested as the facilitating force within an empathic indi
vidual which allows the superego to be freed of anxiety
engendered by egocentric forms of regression and to allow
for the toleration of the degree of ego regression neces
sary to experience empathy (Fox & Goldin, 1964; Schafer,
|1959).
i
j Schafer (1959) has suggested that empathy is a sub-
i
;limated creative act in interpersonal relations; it
i
iinvolves the satisfaction of intimacy with the other and
72
at the same time recognizes and enhances separatedness and
personal development. The psychoanalytic literature has
suggested that individuals who have been clinically evalu-
i
jated as having deficits in empathic capacity have impair-
jments in certain areas of personality functioning. For
]example, individuals who have extremely high cognitive
i
control or who fear emotional entanglement have limited
capacity for ego regression (Greenson, 1960). These indi
viduals are reported to distrust their own feelings,
impulses, and fantasies. Their ego boundaries have been
described as poorly developed; they have difficulty with
the clear differentiation between self and other. The
poorly defined boundaries which these individuals manifest
can result in a number of mental health problems (Beres &
Arlow, 1974; Blatt & Wild, 1976). Therefore, the capacity
for empathy has been viewed as healthy within this litera
ture.
Client-Centered Perspective
The concept of empathy within the client-centered
school of psychotherapy has been subjected to extensive
empirical review. This research has examined empathy as a
facilitative conditon within the clinical setting
|(referred to as accurate empathy) and as a process vari-
jable which can be identified in communication transcripts
73
between therapists and clients. A great deal of this
research has been carried out as a result of the works of
i
Rogers (1957) who defined empathy as the ability to sense
the other's inner world as if it were one's own. His goal
was to specify those qualities of the therapist which
contributed to a positive therapeutic outcome.
The writings of Rogers stimulated a great deal of
research investigating those aspects of the therapeutic
situation that facilitate change. The research in this
body of literature on empathy is therefore limited; it has
restricted the investigation of empathy and other person-
ality factors to only within the therapeutic encounter.
Social Psychological Perspective
The social psychological study of empathy has tradi
tionally differed from the psychoanalytic and client-
centered study in two major ways. First, empathy has been
experimentally examined as a general personality variable
outside of the context of psychotherapy. Second, there
has been a major, on-going theoretical debate within this
literature over defining empathy as an affective or as a
cognitive process. This section provides a brief overview
of the evolution of the concept of empathy within the
!
isocial psychology literature followed by an examination of
i
i the cognitive and affective views of empathy.
74
A great deal of research has been generated during
the past century attempting to define and describe
empathy. Deutsch and Madle (1975) reviewed this litera
ture and have subsequently commented that the question of
whether empathy is a shared emotional experience, a cogni
tive understanding of the other's affect, or both remains
unresolved in the social psychology literature. An impor
tant empirical finding in this literature for this study
is the empathic capacity of children (Feshbach, 1978).
This has significant implications for the present research
investigating the empathic capacities of the good child.
Gender and Empathy
A review of the empirical and theoretical literature
on empathy has revealed the existence of gender differ
ences in empathic capacity. Empirical investigations
using varied measures of empathy have demonstrated that
females are more empathic than males (Abramowitz &
Abramowitz, 197 6; Cochrane, 1974; Dymond, 1949, 1950;
Mehrabian & Epstein, 1972). Theoretical analyses of
I empathy have also suggested that empathy is more a femi-
!
jnine than a masculine character trait (Beres & Arlow,
]
;1974; Greenson, 1960; Olden, 1958; Schafer, 1959).
The two lines of theoretical analysis and experi-
I
|mental measurement of empathy— cognitive and affective—
75
were discussed earlier in this chapter. Hoffman (1977a),
in an extensive review of both of these lines of research
on empathy, has concluded that, in general, females are
found to be more empathic than males when empathy is meas
ured as affective arousal; and males are found to be
equally as empathic as females when cognitive measures of
jempathy are employed. These conclusions are further sup
ported by the research of Hogan (1969) employing a cogni
tive measure of empathy which has indicated a lack of
significant sex differences, and by the research of
Mehrabian and Epstein (1979) employing a emotional empathy
scale which has found significant sex differences.
In an analysis of his review of the literature on
empathy, Hoffman (1977b) has suggested that both females
and males are equally capable of understanding another
individual's position; however, females seem more able
than males to emotionally share another individual's
experience. Hoffman has postulated that females are more
empathic than males because of different sex role sociali
zation. Females develop a prosocial affective orientation
that allows them a greater ability to imagine themselves
in the other's place. Males develop a set toward instru
mental ameliorative action that enables them a greater
ability to help through action than an ability to feel for
the other.
76
Abramowitz and Abramowitz (1976) have suggested gen
der differences in empathy are a result of differential
familial and cultural sex role prescriptions for inter
personal sensitivity. Females develop a greater degree of
expressive socialization, interpersonal awareness and
social insight than do males. Jordan (1983) has reported
that females are conditioned to attend to the needs of
others before their own and threfore they do not develop
dependable self-empathy because the pull of empathy for
the other is so strong.
Psychoanalytic explanations for the findings of gen
der differences in empathic ability have been offered by a
number of authors. Olden (1958) has suggested that
females are more empathic than males because they have a
greater need for interpersonal unity. Schafer (1959) and
Greenson (1960) have suggested that empathy is more femi
nine because it has its roots in early maternal identifi
cation. Greenson has further stated that males must
accept their maternal component in order to gain empathic
ability.
The elucidation of the relationship of gender to
empathy and good child role status is a major intent of
i ,
!this investigation.
77
Hypotheses
The hypotheses under investigation in this study were
generated from the research questions posed earlier in
ithis chapter. These hypotheses have been derived from
current theoretical understanding and clinical observation
■ of early family roles and their influences on subsequent
adult development. The general hypotheses of this study
are as follows:
Hypothesis I: Individuals who participated in the good
child role in the family of origin will describe their
childhood and adolescence as significantly different than
those who did not participate in this childhood role.
Hypothesis II: Adults who participated in the good child
role in the family of origin will be significantly more
eager to please others, self-sacrificing, obedient and
conforming and less rebellious, nonconforming, disobedient
and self-centered than those adults who did not partici
pate in this childhood role.
Hypothesis III: The good child role will be significantly
j and positively related to empathy.
'Hypothesis IV: The good child role will be significantly
1 and positively related to self-consciousness as measured
78
by public self-consciousness, private self-consciousness
and social anxiety.
Hypothesis V: The good child role will be significantly
related to sex-role identity, such that androgyny and
femininity will be positively related and masculinity will
be inversely related to this family role category.
Hypothesis VI: The good child role will be significantly
related to gender, such that more females than males will
have participated in this family role category
Hypothesis VII; The good child will be significantly and
inversely related to psychological adjustment.
Hypothesis VIII: The good child role will be signifi
cantly and inversely related to extraversion.
Hypothesis IX: The good child role will be significantly
related to ego identity, such that more of those individ
uals who participated in the good child role will have
ego-identity statuses that fall into the non-crisis (non
exploration) groups of diffusion (no commitment) and
foreclosure (commitment based on parental expectations)
as opposed to identity achieved and moratorium statuses
which constitute the crisis (exploration) groups.
79
Hypothesis X; Adult characteristics of gender, empathic
capacity, self-consciousness, sex-role identity, obedi
ence, nonconformity and eagerness to please others will
reliably predict whether or not an individual participated
in the good child role in the family of origin.
80
CHAPTER III
METHOD
Design
This quasi-experimental study used a descriptive and
causal-comparative research design to explore the good
child role and related variables. Data were collected
using a questionnaire (eliciting retrospective and
current-status information) and analyzed using univariate
and multivariate statistical procedures.
Procedure
Subjects were recruited in three undergraduate intro
ductory psychology courses. The Psychology Department has
a standard procedure for researchers to follow in order to
sample their subject pool. Each Fall semester researchers
are invited to submit their research proposals to a desig
nated official in the Department. Those research studies
and instruments approved by the Department are then
j included in a research packet. This research packet con-
j sists of all selected research instruments bound together,
j In the second week of the Fall, 1987 academic semes
ter, professors and teaching assistants announced to their
! i
| . I
introductory psychology classes that bonus points would be
81
awarded to those students who completed an optional
iresearch packet. Students who volunteered to participate
were given a research packet and asked to complete it at
home and return it to class the following week. Five
hundred research packets were distributed.
Subi ects
Three-hundred and seven undergraduate students com
pleted the research questionnaire. The objective data of
52 of these subjects were eliminated from the statistical
analyses due to missing information in their research
packets. This resulted in a final sample of 2 55 (145
female, 110 male) subjects.
A complete demographic profile of the sample is pre
sented in Table 1. Subjects ranged in age from 17 to 32;
98% of the sample, however, was below the age of 24. The
mean age was 18.7; the modal age was 18.0.
The modal ethnic background of the subjects was
Caucasian; Caucasians composed 63.5% of the sample. The
next most represented group was Asians who composed 24% of
i
!the sample; Blacks (5.9%) and Hispanics (4.3%) made up
i
J
most of the remaining composition of the sample.
, The modal religion practiced as a child was Catholic;
i
{Catholics composed 31.4% of the sample. The next most
represented group was Protestants who composed 19.6% of
82
Table 1
Demographic Profile of Subjects
Variable Number
(N)
Percent
(%)
Gender
j Male 110 43 . 1
Female 145 56.9
Aqe
17 - 20 233 91.4
21 - 24 017 06. 6
25 - 32 005 02.0
Ethnicitv
Caucasian 162 63.5
Asian 061 23.9
Black 015 05.9
Hispanic 011 04 . 3
Other 006 02.4
Religion fas child)
Catholic 080 31.4
Protestant 050 19.6
Christian 046 18.0
Jewish 020 07.8
None 041 16. 1
Other 018 07.1
Average Familv Income fas child)
Less than $9.9K 006 02.4
$10K - 19.9K 010 03.9
$20K - 29.9K 034 13 . 3
$30K - 39.9K 049 19.2
$40K - 49.9K 026 10.2
$5OK or above 119 46.7
83
the sample; Christians (18.0%), Jews (7.8%) and those who
practiced no religion (16.1%) made up most of the remain
ing sample.
j Subjects, in general, came from families of origin
(
with high socioeconomic statuses. The modal family income
while subjects were growing up was above $50,000 per year;
46.7% of subjects fell into this grouping. Only 6.6% of
the subjects were raised in households with a yearly
income of less than $20,000.
The majority of subjects (86.7%) were not currently
in psychotherapy. Only four subjects reported currently
being in psychotherapy. The majority of subjects (79.2%)
also reported a negative history for psychotherapy. Only
29 subjects reported having been in psychotherapy in the
past; the mean number of months of having been in psycho
therapy was 9.9.
Pilot Study
Thirty-one undergraduate students at a university in
Southern California served as subjects for the pilot study
of this research. Pilot subjects were solicited by the
i
;professor of an undergraduate psychology course; students
I
, were informed of the nature of the research and offered
i
i . |
extra credit course points for their voluntary participa
tion.
84
Participation in this study involved completing a
research questionnaire packet that included the:
j(1) Research Participant Information/Consent Form (Appen
dix A); (2) Demographics Profile; (3) Self-Consciousness
Scale; (4) Emotional Empathy Scale; (5) Bern (60-item) Sex-
Role Inventory; (6) Good Child Role Inventory; (7) Psycho
logical Screening Inventory; and (8) Objective Measure of
Ego Identity Status. Students who chose to participate
were asked to take a research packet, fill it out at home,
and bring it back to class the following week.
The typical pilot subject was a 2 0 year-old, male
Caucasian who had been raised by both natural parents in
an upper middle class environment. A demographic profile
of the pilot subjects has been included in Appendix B.
The pilot study was conducted in order to:
(1) empirically evaluate the Good Child Role Inventory
(described fully in a preceding section); (2) assess the
relationship of the dependent measures to one another; (3)
evaluate the time required and fatigue factor involved in
the completion of the questionnaire; and (4) empirically
investigate the reliability of the independent and depen-
!dent measures.
i
! Analyses of the pilot data resulted in several modi-
i
j fications of the research questionnaire, and specifically
I of the Good Child Role Inventory (the development of which j
85
is described in a preceding section). The pilot study
indicated that the research packet was too lengthy? there
fore, the following revisions were made: (1) the longer
(60-item) version of the Bern Sex Role Inventory was
replaced with the shorter (3 0-item) version of the Bern
Sex-Role Inventory; and (2) only two scales (Defensive
ness and Expression) of the five scales of the Psychologi
cal Screening Inventory were retained.
Instrumentat ion
Six instruments were employed in the final form of
the research questionnaire. Each instrument was an objec
tive, self-report, paper-and-pencil measure. The instru
ments used were: (1) Good Child Role Inventory (developed
by this author); (2) Emotional Empathy Scale; (3) Self-
Consciousness Scale; (4) Bern Sex-Role Inventory; (5) The
Discomfort and Expressiveness subscales of the Psychologi
cal Screening Inventory; and (6) Objective Measure of
Ego Identity.
These instruments were chosen for inclusion in the
final form of the research questionnaire based on three
i
factors: (1) theoretical appropriateness of content;
j
‘(2) sound empirical statuses; and (3) successful pilot
!study evaluation.
86
Good Child Role Inventory
The Good Child Role Inventory (GCRI), developed
specifically for this research, is a 30-item, retrospec
tive, self-report measure (Appendix C). The GCRI was
designed to identify and assess those individuals who
participated in role of the good child in their family of
origin. The GCRI was designed after an exhaustive review
of the relevant literature indicated that there were no
instruments currently available that measure this family
role category.
Development of the GCRI. The basic assumption during
the construction of the GCRI was that adults could offer
retrospective accounts of their childhoods; and that a
self-report questionnaire could be designed that would tap
the roles individuals played in their families of origin.
The initial stage of development of the GCRI involved
the generation of a large pool of items. A number of
guidelines were followed in the selection of these items.
It has been shown that these various common strategies
employed in instrument construction tend to result in
i ...
Jhighly significant empirical validities (Hase & Goldberg,
!1967). Butcher and Tellegan (1955) and Walker (1967)
1 reported that there are certain categories of items that
individuals tend to object to. The categories reported
were: sex, religion, eliminative functions, and family
87
relationships. Since the intent of the GCRI was to assess
■early family role structure and function, questions
|regarding early family relationships could not be avoided.
i
However, extreme care was taken in the creation of items?
items about family relationships judged to be excessively
invasive or highly emotional were eliminated from consid
eration. Jackson (1970) has reported findings that sug
gest that item statements that are brief are superior to
those that are not. Therefore, items for the GCRI were
written in as brief a form as possible. Also, whenever
possible, objective items were worded such that they could
be answered on Likert scales which were constructed to
allow the subject a full range of responses.
With the above guidelines in mind, 54 items were
generated that appeared to the author to reflect current
theoretical and clinical conceptions of the good, compli
ant child. These items appeared to have the ability to
discriminate those children who participated in the family
as the good child and those who did not. Items created
focused on the child in the academic and familial environ
ment because the literature on non-compliant children
i
suggests that behavior in school, as well as in the home,
is important to the identification of such children
(O'Grady & Metz, 1987).
88
Validity. There is a great deal of empirical evidence
i reported in the literature on the importance of the con
tent and face validity of inventory items (Duff, 1965;
Goldberg & Slovic, 1967; Norman, 1963; Wiggins, 1966).
The content and face validity of the items of the GCRI
were emphasized in the construction process.
The 54 items in the initial item pool clustered
around the following content areas: (1) academic grades
and conduct record (e.g., "My elementary school conduct
record was...); (2) early behavioral and emotional self-
description (e.g., "I recall being more sensitive to my
parents' needs than to my own needs...); and (3) family
relationships which included both parent-child interaction
and sibling comparisons (e.g., "In relation to your sib
ling (s) , who tried hardest to please your parents?).
Items were then reviewed for content validity and
proper scale construction by a child and adolescent
research specialist (D. Dembo, personal communication,
June 9, 1987); a research design expert (R. Smith, per
sonal communication, June 8, 1987); and a psychotherapist
working with children and young adults (B. Cohen, personal
communication, June 7, 1987). On the basis of the above
jreviews, a number of items were eliminated or modified
;because they were judged inappropriate, insignificant or
89
redundant. The wording of some of the items was also
modified for clarity.
The pilot study also contributed to the revision of
i
i
the initial form of the instrument. Individual items that
failed the tolerance test in discriminative analyses
(failed to significantly discriminate between individuals
who had been in the good child role and those who had not)
were re-evaluated. Those items that failed were either
eliminated or retained with some modification due to their
overriding theoretical significance. On the basis of the
above comprehensive evaluation of the instrument, the
final version of the GCRI was reduced to 3 0 items (Appen
dix C) .
The construct validity of the GCRI remains provis
ional and in need of further investigation. The construct
of the good child has been derived and operationalized
from the theoretical and clinical writings on this con
cept. The varied terms used to refer to the good child in
this literature have been condensed and subsumed under the
concept of the good child role used in this study. Isaac
i
jand Michaels (1983) have emphasized the check on theory
* underlying a measure as important in the construct valida-
!
}
|tion process. The theory underlying the GCRI is multi-
i
i dimensional and should therefore be evaluated cautiously.
90
Reliability. The reliability of the GCRI was evalu
ated using the final sample data of the 255 subjects who
completed the questionnaire. Item-total correlations were
high? they ranged from .46 to .69. Cronbach's alpha
coefficient was .84 and indicative of the high internal
consistency of the instrument.
Emotional Empathy Scale
The Emotional Empathy Scale (EES) is a 33-item, self-
rating measure designed by Mehrabian and Epstein (1972) to
measure empathy as heightened responsiveness to the
emotional experience of others. The items of this instru
ment are statements of empathic reactions in a variety of
situations (e.g., It makes me sad to see a lonely person
in a group). Subjects are asked to indicate the degree of
applicability of the statements to themselves on an eight-
point Likert scale ranging from +4 (very strong agreement)
to -4 (very strong disagreement). The approximate time of
completion of this instrument is 10 minutes.
The 3 3 items of the EES fall into 7 intercorrelated
subscales which measure related aspects of emotional
empathy. The subscales include: (1) Susceptibility to
Emotional Contagion? (2) Appreciation of the Feelings of
)
Unfamiliar and Distant Others? (3) Extreme Emotional
i
Responsiveness? (4) Tendency to be Moved by Others'
91
Positive Emotional Experiences; (5) Tendency to be Moved
, by Others' Negative Emotional Experiences; (6) Sympathetic
Tendency; and (7) Willingness to be in Contact With Others
Who Have Problems. Mehrabian and Epstein (1972) reported
significant (pc.Ol) subscale intercorrelations (all
exceeding .30).
Development of the Emotional Empathy Scale. The
development of instruments to measure empathy has taken
two distinct paths paralleling two different major defini
tions of the empathic process. Some researchers have
operationally defined empathy as predictive accuracy and
developed empathy scales to differentially measure levels
of cognitive social insight (Cline & Richards, 1960;
Dymond, 1950; Hatch, 1962; Kerr & Speroff, 1951; Mahoney,
1960; Rogers, 1957). Others have defined empathy as a
vicarious emotional response to the perceived emotional
experience of others (Mehrabian & Epstein, 1972; Stotland,
1969).
In developing the EES, Mehrabian and Epstein (1972)
sought to measure emotional empathy as distinct from the
|more cognitive measure of empathy as predictive accuracy.
i
|Previous measures of empathic emotional response were
i
;typically low in validity due to their reliance on self-
i . . . .
;report and physiological indicators (Stotland, 1969).
92
The initial item pool was generated by Mehrabian and
Epstein (1972) based on the literature on empathy. The
empathic stance, as described in this literature, has been
i
!associated with high levels of prosocial and moral
development, helping behavior and altruistic motivation,
lack of interpersonal distance, sensitivity and respon
siveness to the needs of others, low levels of aggressive
ness and authoritarianism, tendency to become involved and
lack judgmental attitudes (Adelman & Berkowitz, 1970;
Hoffman, 1977a, 1977b; Krebs, 1975; Stotland, 1969).
The selection of the final set of items from the
larger pool was based on three factors: (1) content
validity inferred in part from factor analyses of a larger
pool of items; (2) significant (pc.Ol) correlations with
the total score on the scale; and (3) insignificant corre
lations with the Crowne and Marlowe (1960) social desir
ability scale.
Reliability. Normative data were derived from a large
sample of college undergraduates. The EES has been
described as having a high degree of internal reliability.
t
i
All items of the scale correlate significantly with the
total score on the scale. The split-half reliability has
jbeen reported as .84 (Mehrabian & Epstein, 1972).
i Reliability of the instrument was also evaluated by
analysis of the data of the 255 subjects used in this
93
study. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was .79; the instru
ment was therefore evaluated as internally consistent by
!this research.
Validity. The EES has been described as a highly
valid measure of empathy. Face validity of the EES has
been adequately established based on the evaluation that
all items of the scale are indicative of an emotional
sensitivity to the experience of others (Mehrabian &
Epstein, 1972).
Content validity has been established on the basis of
factor analyses conducted with criteria involving the
emotional appreciation of and responsiveness to others'
positive and negative emotional experiences (Mehrabian &
Epstein, 1972).
Construct validity has been empirically established
as a result of significant correlations between the EES
and decreased aggressive trends and increased altruistic,
helping behavior; these two variables have been consis
tently related to empathic capacity (Mehrabian & Ksionsky,
1974) . The authors evaluated the scale in two distinctly
different social situations involving aggressive and
I altruistic behavior.
I
| The researchers tested the hypothesis that predicts
i
jthat subjects who are high in emotional empathy tend to
1 exhibit a reduction in aggressive behavior when an
i _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _
94
individual is in pain and in the subject's immediate
I physical environment. Eighty-eight (37 male and 51
female) undergraduate students from the University of
jCalifornia at Berkeley were administered the EES. One
week later each subject was assigned the duty of teacher
and paired with a confederate who could be given various
levels of shock as a punishment for each wrong answer
given to a series of questions. The average intensity of
shock delivered by the subject to the confederate served
as the dependent measure of aggression. The immediacy of
the pain feedback from the confederate was of two levels.
The subject was either in the same room with the confeder
ate in the immediate situation; or the subject was in an
adjacent room in the nonimmediate situation. The results
indicated that only highly empathic subjects aggressed
less toward the confederates in the more immediate condi
tion. This revealed an interactional effect between level
of emotional empathy and immediacy of the victim upon
inhibiting aggressive behavior.
Mehrabian and Epstein (1972) then tested the hypothe- !
|sis that predicts that a highly empathic subject will help
f
!another individual who is in distress and physically pre-
i
,sent. The investigators explored helping behavior as a
i
function of subjects' emotional empathic tendency, affili- j
i . . . . . i
,ative tendency, succorance, sensitivity to rejection,
95
approval-seeking tendency, and similarity to the confeder
ate. These personality attributes were assessed with
questionnaires. Eighty-one female undergraduates served
as subjects. Each subject was paired with a confederate
who was portrayed as holding either similar or dissimilar
attitudes. The confederate, using a standard script,
acted emotionally upset and asked subjects to volunteer
their time to help with a class project. Results from a
regression analysis indicated that only helping behavior
was a significant correlate of empathic tendency.
Self-Consciousness Scale
The Self-Consciousness Scale (SCS) is a 23-item,
self-report measure that assesses individual differences
in self-consciousness. This scale measures three separate
components of self-consciousness: (1) private self-
consciousness— tendency to be aware of one's own inner
thoughts and feelings? (2) public self-consciousness—
tendency to be aware of the self as a social object that
has an effect on others? and (3) social anxiety— discom
fort in the presence of others. This dimension differs
j from the private and public subscales in that it does not
simply measure a tendency to focus on some aspect of the
|self, it measures a particular kind of reaction (appre-
i
1hensiveness) to being focused on the self (particularly
97
consciousness has two major factors or components— one
private and one public. Social anxiety emerged as a fac
tor that was a reaction to the process of self-focused
attention.
Reliability. The SCS has been reported to be a reli
able research tool (Fenigstein et al., 1970). The SCS was
administered twice to 84 undergraduate students with a 14-
day interval between administrations. The test-retest
i
correlation for the measure was reported to be .80.
The reliability of the scale was also evaluated using
the data of the 255 subjects used in this study. The
internal consistencies of each of the three subscales of
the SCS were found to be lower than the published values.
Cronbach's alpha coefficient was .64 for the private self-
consciousness subscale; .79 for the public self-
consciousness subscale; and, .71 for the social anxiety
subscale.
Validity. A substantial amount of evidence has been
gathered establishing the convergent and discriminant
validity of the SCS (Carver & Glass, 1976; Turner,
Scheier, Carver & Ickes, 1978). Content validity of the
i
|SCS has been established using a number of principal-
jcomponents factor analyses using varimax rotation (Nie,
|Bent, & Hull, 1970). Fenigstein et al. (1975) have
■ consistently reported the emergence of the same three
96
the public self). Respondents rate each item of the SCS
on a Likert scale ranging from 0 (extremely uncharacteris
tic) to 4 (extremely characteristic). A total self-
i
consciousness score is computed along with three other
scores for the separate components of self-consciousness—
private self-consciousness, public-self consciousness, and
social anxiety.
Development of the SCS. The guiding theoretical
assumption in the development of the SCS was that individ
uals could be differentiated on the basis of their degree
of private and public self-awareness. The initial item
pool of the instrument was generated by first identifying
behaviors that constitute the domain of self-
consciousness. These behaviors were classified as:
(1) preoccupation with past, present and future behavior?
(2) sensitivity to inner feelings; (3) recognition of one's
positive and negative attributes? (4) introspective
behavior; (5) a tendency to picture or imagine oneself;
(6) awareness of one's physical appearance and presenta
tion; and (7) concern over the appraisal of others. The
J initial instrument consisted of 38 items written to sample
these behaviors. Results of several pilot investigations
using male and female undergraduate students as subjects
resulted in the final 23-item version of the SCS. A
principal-components factor analysis suggested that self
98
factors in numerous investigations of the instrument—
public self-consciousness, private self-consciousness and
social anxiety. Factor analyses have confirmed that the
private and public self-consciousness dimensions are fac-
torially distinct. The correlations between the two sub
scales, though consistently positive, are low— typically
falling between .20 and .30 (Carver & Glass, 1976;
Fenigstein et al., 1970; Turner et al., 1978).
Bern Sex-Role Inventory
The short-form of the Bern Sex-Role Inventory (BSRI)
is a 3 0-item, self-rating sex role inventory designed by
Bern (1979) to characterize individuals as masculine, femi
nine, androgynous or undifferentiated. The short-form of
the BSRI was derived from the original, longer 60-item
BSRI introduced by Bern (1974). The BSRI consists of 30
descriptive adjectives (e.g., affectionate, assertive,
friendly). Ten of these adjectives are culturally pre
scribed masculine traits; 10 of these adjectives are
culturally prescribed feminine traits; and 10 of these
adjectives are considered neutral items. Individuals rate
themselves on a seven point Likert scale ranging from
"never true of me" to "always true of me" on each of the
items. On the basis of their score on the inventory,
99
jindividuals are classified as masculine sex-typed, femi-
!nine sex-typed, androgynous or undifferentiated.
I Bern (1979) recommended that researchers classify
jsubjects on the basis of a median split into the four
distinct sex-role groups. For example, if an individual
scored above the mean on the masculine items and below the
mean on the feminine items, that individual would be
classified in the masculine sex-type; or, if an individual
scored above the mean on both the masculine and feminine
subscales, that individual would be classified as
androgynous.
Development of the BSRI. The initial construction of
the BSRI was based on two specific theoretical assump
tions: (1) American culture has clustered heterogeneous
attributes into two mutually exclusive categories— male
and female; and (2) Individuals vary in the extent to
which they use these cultural definintions of femininity
t
|and masculinity to regulate their behavior (Bern, 1972,
1979) .
An initial item pool of 2 00 personality characteris
tics that seemed to be both positive in value and either
i
I masculine or feminine in tone was compiled by the
!
researcher and her associates. Similarly, another 2 00
! personality characteristics that seemed to be both
100
positive and negative in value and neither masculine nor
feminine in tone were compiled as neutral items.
The final pool of non-neutral (masculine or feminine)
items was generated by a process in which only those items
independently judged by both male and female judges to be
I more desirable in American society for one sex than for
the other were selected. The final pool of neutral items
was generated by a process in which only those items inde
pendently judged by both male and female judges to be no
more desirable for one sex than for the other were
selected. This process resulted in 2 0 feminine items, 2 0
masculine items and 2 0 neutral items for the long-form
BSRI. Feminine and masculine items for the short-form
BSRI were selected through empirical analyses promoting
maximization of both the internal consistency of the Femi
ninity and Masculinity scales and the orthogonality (inde
pendence or zero correlation) between them.
Reliability. The empirical analyses of the reliabil
ity of the BSRI were based on two samples of male and
female undergraduate students at Stanford University.
Internal consistency was estimated using the Cronbach
ialpha. Alpha coefficients were significant and ranged
I
from .75 to .90.
i
Test-retest reliability estimated from product-moment
1 correlations computed between two administrations of the
101
instrument, approximately 4 weeks apart, resulted in
reliabilities ranging from .76 to .94.
Reliability of the instrument was also evaluated
using the data of the 255 subjects used in this study.
Cronbach's alpha coefficient was .85 for the masculine
j
subscale and .89 for the feminine subscale. These values
are consistent with published reliability estimates.
Validity. The validity of the BSRI was originally
evaluated by examining whether or not the instrument could
discriminate between individuals who restricted their
behavior in accordance with gender stereotypes. For
example, in one study, subjects were asked to choose which
activities they would perform for pay while being photo
graphed. Results of this study indicated that sex-typed
individuals were significantly more likely than
androgynous or cross-sex-typed individuals to prefer
gender-appropriate activity and to resist gender-
inappropriate activity.
Further support for the validity of the BSRI has come
from a number of studies on instrumental and expressive
functioning. The collective results of these studies have
j
1 indicated that only androgynous individuals consistently
| display high levels of behavior in both domains; non-
androgynous individuals frequently display low levels of
102
behavior in one or the other domain (Bern, 1975; Bern,
Martyna, & Watson, 1976).
The growing body of literature attesting to the
validity of the BSRI has indicated that non-androgynous
individuals do indeed restrict their behaviors in accord-
:ance with what is culturally deemed appropriate for males
and females. These studies have indicated that the BSRI
can discriminate among and identify those groups of indi
viduals it purports to measure and categorize.
Psychological Screening Inventory
A modified version of the Psychological Screening
Inventory (PSI) was used in this research study; only two
scales (Defensiveness and Expression) or 60 items of the
total instrument were utilized. The PSI is a self-report,
13 0-item, true-false measure of mental health status
developed by Lanyon (1973). The PSI consists of the fol
lowing five scales: (1) Alienation (Al)— designed to
measure the similarity of the respondent to hospitalized
psychiatric patients; (2) Social Nonconformity (Sn)—
designed to measure the similarity of the respondent to
incarcerated prisoners; (3) Discomfort (Di)— designed to
assess the personality dimension of anxiety or perceived
:maladjustment; (4) Expression (Ex)— designed to assess
I
the personality dimension of extraversion or undercontrol;
103
and (5) Defensiveness (De)— designed to assess the degree
!of defensiveness characterizing the test taker's
responses. The PSI yields a specific score on each dis
crete scale. Very little empirical research has been
conducted on the interpretation of score patterns or pro
files (Lanyon, 1978). The two scales of the PSI used in
this study are further explicated below.
Development of the PSI. The PSI was constructed to be
an easily administered and interpreted mental health
screening device. The initial item pool generated by
Lanyon and his associates consisted of 220 items con
sidered to fall around two major dimensions— anxiety and
extraversion.
The method employed to refine and reduce the item
pool to its final set of items for each scale was mainly
dictated by the concept underlying each scale. The
initial content category for the Di scale was: lack of
well-being or zest for life, anxiety, social akwardness,
general fatigue, loss of efficiency, somatic symptoms,
difficulty in sleeping, poor physical health, poor appe
tite and loss of memory. The initial content for the Ex
iscale was: verbal and social dominance and fluency,
'enjoyment of exhibition and externalization of feelings,
|leadership, impulsivity, enjoyment of excitement, noise,
104
and crowds; and denial of passivity, carefulness, thor
oughness, rumination, and indecision.
The final construction of each PSI scale was based on
the administration of the initial 220-item scale to nor
mal , psychiatric and prison sample populations. Psycho
metric analyses of the data from these studies resulted in
the final version of the instrument. The Di and Ex sub
scales were both constructed by internal consistency
analyses of preliminary items whose content areas were
defined previously.
Discomfort Scale. The Di scale is a 3 0-item subscale
of the PSI. This scale was constructed to assess the
major personality dimension variously referred to as per
ceived maladjustment, discomfort, anxiety and neuroticism
versus ego resiliency or ego strength. Lanyon (1973,
I
1978) has reported that the Di scale represents a bipolar j
dimension. Individuals who score high on this subscale
have been characterized as susceptible to anxiety and to
emotional breakdown under stress. These individuals are
further described as having: low life satisfaction; poor
adjustment; neuroticism; frequent somatic complaints; and
a high degree of psychological discomfort and problems.
Individuals who score low on this subscale have been
described as having: high life satisfaction; subjective
comfortability; low anxiety; and low neuroticism. These
105
individuals have been reported to be adaptable, resource
ful and flexible.
Expression Scale. The Ex scale is a 30-item subscale
of the PSI. This scale was constructed to assess the
major personality dimension variously referred to as
extraversion-introversion and undercontrol-overcontrol.
Lanyon (1973, 1978) has reported that the Ex scale repre
sents a bipolar dimension. Individuals who score high on
this subscale have been characterized as: extraverted;
dominant; undercontrolled; sociable; unreliable; and
impulsive. Individuals who score low on this subscale
have been characterized as: introverted; overcontrolled;
conscientious; thorough; quiet; reliable; and have their
feelings directed inward.
Reliability. The PSI has been subjected to comprehen
sive empirical evaluation (Lanyon, 1970). The internal
consistency of each subscale was estimated by means of
Kuder-Richardson Formula 20. The internal consistency was
evaluated using 50 male and 50 female undergraduate col
lege students. The test-retest reliability of each sub
scale was initially estimated by the correlation between
scores on two administrations of the test to 17 male and
37 female undergraduates 4 weeks apart. Additional
i
!test-retest correlations were obtained on two more
106
administrations of the PSI to 29 male and 29 female under
graduates approximately 10 days apart.
Reliability of the Di Scale. The internal consis
tency coefficient for the Di scale was reported to be .85.
The test-retest correlation on the first study was
reported to be .92; the second test-retest study yielded a
correlation of .75.
The reliability of the Di scale has also been evalu
ated using the data of the 255 subjects used in this
study. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was .82; this value
is adequate and consistent with published values.
Reliability of the Ex Scale. The internal consis
tency coefficient for the Ex scale was reported to be .75.
The test-retest correlation on the first study was
reported to be .88; the second test-retest study yielded a
correlation of .87.
The reliability of the Ex scale has also been evalu
ated using the data of the 255 subjects used in this
study. Cronbach's alpha coefficient was .74; this value
is adequate and consistent with published values.
Validity of the Di Scale. The PSI has been subjected
to comprehensive validation studies (Lanyon, 1978). Each
i
| subscale has been empirically evaluated in a variety of
I
I ways.
The validity of the Di scale has been evaluated in
five major ways. Initially, evidence attesting to the
validity of the Di subscale emphasized its relationship
i
with other scales measuring the same construct. The Di
scale has been significantly correlated with scales of the
Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI) and the
California Personality Inventory (CPI). For example, the
average correlations with MMPI scales reflecting malad
justment range from .5 to .6; the average correlations
with CPI measures reflecting responsibility and social
maturity are moderate to high (negative) correlations.
Validity of the Di scale has also been assessed by
examining mean Di scores for 37 different subject groups.
The highest mean scores were achieved by normal subjects
making an effort to respond in a maladjusted manner to
questions and by psychiatric inpatients. The lowest mean
scores were achieved by normal subjects making an effort
to respond in a well-adjusted manner to questions and by
normal individuals being assessed in real life personnel
screenings.
A third validation procedure has used factor analy-
!ses. The discomfort construct or dimension of the scale
i
| has consistently emerged as a major source of variance in
factor analyses of inventories related to psychological
adjustment and mental health. The first rotated factor
108
defined in each of several factor analyses of the PSI and
MMPI scores has its highest loadings, around .80, on the
jDi scale, and MMPI scales Pt (Psychasthenia), Sc (Schizo-
jphrenia), and F (Frequency). This has suggested that the
Di scale is an adequate measure of this first major factor
found to be present in maladjustment/adjustment inventor
ies.
Validity of the Di scale has further been evaluated
by the examination of MMPI profiles of high-Di and low-Di
scorers. In general, low-Di scorers were profiled as free
from anxiety with high enthusiasm and energy? high-Di
scorers were profiled as overtly anxious and neurotic on
the MMPI.
Lastly, the relationship of Di scale scores and sub
jects' self-ratings has been examined. The correlation of
scale scores and self-ratings was found to be only .10.
This procedure failed to provide validation for the scale.
Validity of the Ex Scale. The validity of the Ex
scale of PSI has been similarly evaluated. The relation
ship of the Ex scale to other scales has been examined.
The Ex scale has been reported to have significant corre
lations with scales of the MMPI and CPI. For example, the
I
iEx scale has a negative (-.62) correlation with the MMPI
I Social Introversion scale; it has a positive (.5) correla-
i
* tion with the CPI Person Orientation scale.
L_________________________________________________________________________________
109
Validity of the Ex scale has also been assessed by
examining mean Ex scores for 37 different subject groups.
Results of this analysis have indicated that the Ex scale
is unrelated to degree of psychological adjustment.
Differences among the group means were slight; younger and
higher education groups only scored a few points higher
than their counterparts. Japanese undergraduate college
students achieved mean scores 10 points below those of
American undergraduate college students.
A third validation procedure has been effected
through factor analyses. The Ex dimension— extraversion-
introversion and undercontrol-overcontrol— has consis
tently emerged as one of the two major sources of variance
of factor analyses of inventories which cover a comprehen-
jsive range of personality characteristics. The third
!factor that has been identified in two of the factor
analyses of the PSI and MMPI scores, and the second factor
in the remaining one, have had their highest average load
ing on Ex (about .70). Therefore, it has been stated that
the Ex scale taps a major personality dimension.
I
j Validity of the Ex scale has further been established
i
by the examination of the MMPI profiles of high-Ex and
!low-Ex scorers. The average MMPI profile of a high-Ex
i
scorer suggested energy, impulsivity, social facility, and
some tendency toward aggression and acting out. The
110
average MMPI profile of a low-Ex MMPI profile suggested
passivity, pessimism, social introversion, and tendencies
toward worry.
t
i
Lastly, the relationship of Ex scale scores and sub
jects' self-ratings has been examined. The correlation of
Ex scale scores and self-ratings was .36. This correla-
I
tion is significant (p<-05); this correlation has added
additional support to the validity of the Ex scale.
Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status
The Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status (OM-EIS)
is a 24-item, self-rating instrument designed to assess
ego identity status on the basis of individuals' responses
to occupational, political and religious questions. The
OM-EIS was designed on the theoretical basis of Erikson's
(1968) construct of ego identity. The OM-EIS classifies
individuals on the basis of four identity statuses— each a
pattern of coping with identity crises. These statuses
include: (1) identity achievment— those individuals in
identity achievment have struggled through the crises of
choosing among alternatives in occupational, political and
1 religious preferences and have adopted an ideology based
i
I on their own exploration and choice; (2) moratorium—
those individuals in identity moratorium are still weigh-
| ing ideological issues and struggling to form commitments;
Ill
(3) foreclosure— those individuals with foreclosed iden
tity statuses have accepted parental ideological values
with no exploration of alternatives and no identity
crises; and (4) diffusion— those individuals with
diffused identity statuses have little interest in ideo
logical exploration and are undecided.
The OM-EIS consists of 24 total items; there are four
scales reflecting each of the identity statuses with six
items each. Each set of six items contains two questions
on religion, two questions on politics, and two questions
on occupation. Respondents are asked to answer each ques
tion on a six-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (strong
disagreement) to 6 (strong agreement).
Development of the OM-EIS. The OM-EIS is an identity
assessment instrument patterned after Marcia's (1964,
1967) operationalized measure of Erikson's (1956, 1963)
formulation of the identity crisis. Marcia's Identity
Status Interview assesses an individual's responses to
occupational, political and religious questions on the
basis of the presence or absence of crisis or commitment
in each area. Adams (1978) outlined the problems inherent
in the Identity Status Interview, such as the cost of
individual interviews and difficulty with scoring proce
dures, and he set out to develop a more objective measure
of identity.
112
Adams initiated the development of the OM-EIS with
four investigations into the production of an objective
self-report measure of ego identity. The basic assumption
during the construction of this instrument was that crisis
and commitment could be equally assessed by an interview
schedule (Marcia, 19 66) and an objective self-report ques
tionnaire using Likert scale items. The initial item pool
i
included items that reflected theoretically appropriate
indications of crisis and commitment in the content areas
of occupation, politics, and religion. This initial form
of the OM-EIS was revised on the basis of four subsequent
investigations involving extensive theoretical and empiri
cal scrutiny.
Reliability. The OM-EIS is an evolving research tool
(Adams, 1978). Numerous experimental studies have inves
tigated the reliability of the OM-EIS; a sample of these
studies is reviewed below.
Montemayor, Brown and Adams (1985) randomly selected
52 college freshmen to complete the OM-EIS. Internal
consistency coefficients ranged from .64 to .74; all
correlations were significant. In terms of test-retest
reliability, no significant differences were found between
scale means and standard deviations over four different
;administrations.
i
113
Adams and Montemayor (1987) administered the OM-EIS
ito 70 college freshman over a 3 year period. The internal
consistency subscale ranges reported were: Diffusion
subscale (.69 to .73); Foreclosure subscale (.81 to .86);
Moratorium subscale (.70 to .77); and Achieved subscale
(.84 to .89). Numerous other studies of the reliability
of the OM-EIS have reported similarly high and significant
I reliability statistics. The reliability of the instrument
was also evaluated using the data of the 255 subjects used
in this study. Cronbach's alpha coefficient for the
Diffusion subscale was .58; .73 for the Foreclosed sub
scale; .76 for the Moratorium subscale; and .54 for the
Achieved subscale. These values are lower than published
values.
Validity. The OM-EIS has also been subjected to com
prehensive validation studies. A sample of these studies
are reviewed below.
In an empirical review of the OM-EIS, Bennion and
Adams (1985) examined the face validity of the instrument.
Trained judges found 94.4% agreement on items.
In another study, content validity of the OM-EIS was
j assessed. Ten graduate students, rating the items by
j identity status, were in agreement 96.5% of the time
i (Grotevant & Adams, 1984) .
114
Abraham (1983) examined the predictive validity of
ithe OM-EIS with a sample of 223 high school students.
Subjects classified as identity achievers showed signifi
cantly less external locus of control than all other iden
tity statuses. Foreclosed subjects were not significantly
less externally controlled than diffusion or moratorium
subjects. Moratorium subjects were significantly less
externally controlled than diffused subjects. No signifi
cant sex differences were found.
Adams and Jones (1983) assessed the construct valid
ity of the OM-EIS with 82 female high school students.
Convergent-divergent correlations between the subscales
showed diffusion and achieved scores significantly corre
lated at -.46; diffusion and foreclosure were signifi
cantly correlated at -.25; diffusion and moratorium were
significantly correlated at .25; moratorium and foreclo
sure were significantly correlated at .28; and achieve
ment and foreclosure were correlated at -.05.
Overall, the extensive literature on the empirical
evaluations of the OM-EIS on a variety of sampled popula
tions has established the instrument as reliable and
valid.
115
Limitations of Study
i
i
I The interpretation and generalizability of the
I
I results of this study are limited by some of the inherent
problems of quasi-experimental measurement of psychologi
cal variables (Isaac & Michael, 1983).
! The internal validity and reliability of the ques
tionnaire used in this study has been limited by the indi
vidual validities and reliabilities of each of the separ
ate instruments used; although every attempt was made to
include only highly valid and reliable measures. This
research study has been retrospective, in part, rather
than longitudinal; it has therefore been subjected to the
limitations of retrospective questionnaires. Previous
research studies have suggested that current attitudes and
behaviors can lead individuals to reconstruct past
actions, remember only a subset of their behaviors, or
even change their attributes (Abrahams, Feldman, & Nash,
1978; Ross, McFarland, & Fletcher, 1981). Also, Salanick i
(1974) has reported that current attitudes held by an
individual are affected by the selective recall of past
behaviors. This study has relied heavily on subjects'
j recall and is therefore subject to the above problems
|associated with accurate recall. This research has also
i
irelied on paper-and-pencil self-report measures. These
116
measures are subjected to errors of memory, defensive
jdistortion and impression management (Waterman, 1982).
| This research has used a causal-comparative, as well
t
as a descriptive, research design and is therefore subject
to the weaknesses inherent to this method. The main weak
ness of any ex post facto design is the lack of control
over the independent variables. Interpretations of causal
relationships must be made cautiously when strict experi
mental conditions cannot be met.
The external validity of this research has also been
limited. The representativeness and the generalizabilty
of the results of this study are restricted. The research
only tapped subjects who were accessible and cooperative.
Also, the subjects used in this study were predominantly
part of a homogeneous sample of middle to upper class,
Caucasian students? this sample may not be representative
of more diverse populations. Caution is therefore advised
tin the interpretation and application of the results of
this research.
117
CHAPTER IV
RESULTS
I
I
i
* This chapter reports the results of the parametric
and non-parametric statistical analyses of the sample data
related to each of the research hypotheses. The hypothe
ses were tested by means of the computerized Statistical
Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS-X) t-test, chi-
square and discriminant analysis programs. The univariate
statistics are first presented for each hypothesis; the
multivariate statistics follow. Subjects were divided
into an experimental and a control group on the basis of
the procedure described below.
The Experimental and Control Groups
The creation of the experimental group— those sub
jects who had participated in the role of the good child
in their role family of origin— and the control group—
those subjects who had not participated in the role of the
good child in their family of origin— was achieved by
i
means of subjects' scores on the scale of the Good Child
i
[Role Inventory (GCRI) which assessed good child role
status. A high score represented good child role status;
118
a low score represented good child role non-status. Sub
jects were included in the experimental group if they
scored in the top one-third of the distribution of scores
on the scale. Subjects were included in the control group
if they scored in the bottom one-third of the distribution
of scores on the scale. Subjects scoring in the middle
one-third of the distribution of scores were eliminated
from further statistical analyses in order to maximize the
differences between the groups.
Subjects' raw scores on the scale were evenly dis
tributed around the mean (M = 41.2). The scores ranged
from 59 (59 points being the highest possible score on
this scale) to 14 (8 points being the lowest possible
score on this scale). Subjects who scored between 46 and
59 on the scale fell into the top one-third of the dis
tribution and they were labelled the experimental group (N
= 92). Subjects who scored between 14 and 38 on the scale
were in the lower one-third of the distribution and they
were labelled the control group (N = 85). Subjects with
scores falling between 39 and 45 (in the middle one-third
of the distribution of scores) were eliminated from fur
ther statistical analyses in the study (N = 78).
119
Results Related to Hypothesis I
| The following hypothesis was investigated using t-
j test and chi-square programs of statistical analyses.
Hypothesis Is Individuals who participated in the good
child role in the family of origin will describe their
childhood and adolescence as significantly different than
those who did not participate in this childhood role.
The independent variable in this hypothesis was
whether or not the subject had participated in the role of
the good child in the family of origin. The independent
variable was measured by the GCRI. The dependent vari
ables were: ethnicity, religion practiced as a child,
academic record, academic conduct record, eagerness to
please others, obedience, disobedience, conformity, non-
j conformity, self-centeredness, childhood rebelliousness,
adolescent rebelliousness, self-sacrificing behaviors,
greater sensitivity to parents' needs than to own needs,
I
birth order, and feeling responsible for parents' happi
ness. The dependent variables were also measured by the
GCRI.
A univariate statistical analysis of the data was
executed in order to determine if significant differences
i
| existed between the two groups. Results of some of these
! analyses are summarized in Tables 2, 3, 4 and 5.
I Statistically significant results were obtained on a
| number of the dependent variables. Experimental subjects
Table 2
Chi-Square Analyses of Childhood Religion and Good Child Role Status
Status
Childhood Religion*
Catholic
(%)
Protestant
(%)
Christian
(%)
Jewish
(%)
None
(%)
Other
(%)
Good Child 62.7a 50.0 46.7 47.1 47.1 45.5
Role (N=92) (32) (17) (14) (8) (16) (5)
Controls 37.3 50.0 53.3 52.9 52.9 54.5
(N=85) (19) (17) (16) (9) (18) (6)
£
More Catholic subjects were good children than were not; other religious
groups were more equally distributed.
*X = 3.44, df = 5 (N.S.)
120
121
Table 3
Chi-Scruare Analyses of Ethnicity and Good
Child Role Status
Ethnicity*
Status
Caucasian
(%)
Asian
(%)
Black
(%)
Hispanic
(%)
Other
<%)
Good Child 53.4 44.7 70. 0a 37.5 66.7
Role
(N=92)
(63) (17) (7) (3) (2)
Controls 46.6 55. 3 30.0 62 . 3 33 . 3
(N=85) (55) (21) (3) (5)
(1)
aMore Black subjects were good children than were not;
other ethnic groups were more equally distributed.
*X = 3.11, df = 4 (N.S.)
r
! Table 4
Chi-Square Analyses of Good Child Role Status and Four Prosocial
Behaviors during Childhood, Adolescence and Adulthood
Prosocial Behaviors
% Conforming % Self-Sacrificing % Eager to Please % Obedient
Good Good Good Good
Child Controls Child Controls Child Controls Child Controls
Childhood 58.7* 41.2 40.2** 21.2 83.7** 65.9 93.5*** 57.6
(54) (35) (37) (18) (77) (56) (86) (49)
Adolescence 46.7* 29.4 51.1 48.2 70.7** 49.4 73.9*** 40.0
(43) (25) (47) (41) (65) (42) (68) (34)
Adulthood 43.5 40.0 56.5 55.3 72.8* 57.6 76.1*** 51.8
(40) (34) (52) (47) (67) (49) (70) (44)
*P <
.05
**p < .01
* * * p
<
.001
H
to
to
Table 5
Chi-Square Analyses of Good Child Role Status and Four Antisocial
! Behaviors during Childood, Adolescence and Adulthood
i
i
Antisocial Behaviors
% Rebellious % Disobedient % Self-Centered % Non-Conforming
Good Good Good Good
Child Controls Child Controls Child Controls Child Controls
Childhood 7.6* 38.8 3.3*** 21.2 12.0 34.1 7.6** 29.4
(7) (33) (3) (24)
(11)
(29) (7) (25)
Adolescence 21.7*** 55.3 12.0** 31.8 27.2 36.5 29.3** 50.6
(20) (47)
(11)
(27) (25) (31) (27) (43)
Adulthood 9.8* 23.5 2.2 5.9 16.3 57.6 30.4* 45.9
(9) (20) (2) (5) (15) (20) (28) (39)
*p
<
.05
**p
<
.01
* * * p
<
.001
to
u
124
were significantly more rebellious than control subjects
during childhood X(l) = 22.9, pc.001 and adolescence
t(175) = 9.11, pc.001; had better academic records in
elementary school t(175) = -2.88, pc.01 and high school
t(175) = -2.96, pc.01; had better conduct records in
elementary school t(175) = -4.95, £><.001 and high school
i
j t(175) = -4.19, pc.001? were more eager to please others
|as children X(l) = 6.58, p<.01 and as adolescents X(l) =
7.47, p<.01; more self-sacrificing as children X(l) = 6.6,
pc.01? less non-conforming as children X(l) = 12.7, pc.001
and as adolescents X(l) = 7.5, pc.Ol? less disobedient as
children X(l) = 19.4, p<.001 and as adolecents X(l) = 9.1,
pc.01? less self-centered as children X(l) = 11.2, pc.001
and as adolescents; more obedient as children X(l) = 29.4,
i
jpc.001 and as adolescents X(l) = 19.4, pc.001; more con-
forming as children X(l) = 4.7, pc.05 and as adolescents
X(1) = 4.9, pc.05; and, more sensitive to their parents'
needs than to their own needs while they were growing up
X(l) = 10.2, pc.001.
Statistically insignificant differences were also
| found on a number of the dependent variables. The null
i
j hypotheses for each of these variables were supported,
iExperimental subjects were not significantly more likely
i
i
to belong to a particular ethnic group X(4) = 3.1, p>.05
(Table 3); a particular religious group X(5) = 3.4, p>.05
125
as children (Table 2); or a particular birth order X(2) =
1.1, p>.05. Also, experimental subjects were not signifi
cantly more self-sacrificing as adolescents X(l) = .05,
I
P>.05 or significantly less self-centered as adolescents
X(l) = 1.4, p>.05.
Hypothesis I has been supported by this research.
Statistically significant differences exist between the
two groups on a number of childhood and adolescent vari
ables .
Results Related to Hypothesis II
The following hypothesis was investigated using
t-test and chi-sguare programs of statistical analysis.
Hypothesis II: Adults who participated in the role of the
good child in the family of origin will be significantly
more eager to please others, self-sacrificing, obedient
and conforming and less rebellious, non-conforming, dis
obedient and self-centered than those adults who did not
participate in this childhood role.
The independent variable in this hypothesis was
whether or not the subject had participated in the role of
the good child in the family of origin. The independent
variable was measured by the GCRI. The dependent vari
ables were: eagerness to please others, conformity,
I obedience, self-sacrifice, rebelliousness, disobedience,
! non-conformity and self-centeredness. The dependent vari-
| ables were also measured by the GCRI.
i
i
J _______________________ . . . . ___________________________ _____________________
126
Univariate statistical analyses of the data were
executed in order to determine if significant differences
^ existed between the two groups. Results are summarized in
Tables 4 and 5.
Statistically significant results were obtained on a
number of the dependent variables. Experimental subjects
\
as adults were significantly more eager to please others
X(1) = 3.86, p<•05 and obedient X(l) = 10.36, p<.001.
They were significantly less rebellious X(l) = 5.13, p<.05
and non-conforming X(l) = 3.84, p<.05.
Statistically insignificant differences were also
found on a number of the dependent variables. The null
hypotheses for each of these variables were supported.
Experimental subjects as adults were not significantly
I
more self-sacrificing X(l) = .001, p>.05 or conforming
X(1) = .099, p>.05 than control subjects. They were also
not less self-centered X(l) = 1.03, p>.05 or disobedient
X(1) = .772, p>.05 than control subjects.
Results Related to Hypothesis III
I
I
The following hypothesis was investigated using a
chi-square program of statistical analysis.
j Hypothesis III: The good child role will be significantly
and positively related to empathy.
127
The independent variable in this hypothesis was
i whether or not subjects had participated in the role of
the good child in the family of origin. The independent
variable was measured by the GCRI. The dependent variable
was the degree of empathic capacity measured by the
Emotional Empathy Scale.
Results of the parametric analysis of the sample
data, as depicted in Table 6, revealed that experimental
subjects were significantly more empathic than control
subjects t(175) = -3.07, pc.01. Hypothesis III was there
fore supported by this research.
Results Related to Hypothesis IV
The following hypothesis was investigated using a
t-test program of statistical analysis.
Hypothesis IV: The good child role will be significantly
and positively related to self-consciousness as measured
by public self-consciousness, private self-consciousness
and social anxiety.
The independent variable in this hypothesis was
whether or not the subject had participated in the role of
the good child in the family of origin. This variable was
t
i measured by the GCRI. The dependent variables in this
hypothesis were private self-consciousness, public self-
- consciousness and social anxiety. The dependent variables
were measured by the Self-Consciousness Scale. ]
128
Results of this analysis are also depicted in Table
6. No significant differences between the two groups were
i
i found on private self-consciousness t(175) = .81, p>.05,
public self-consciousness t(175) = .03 p>.05 or social
anxiety t(175) = -.85, p>.05.
Hypothesis IV was not supported by this research.
The null hypothesis was accepted.
Results Related to Hypothesis V
I
The following hypothesis was investigated using a
chi-sguare statistical analysis.
Hypothesis V: The good child role will be significantly
related to sex role identity, such that androgyny and
femininity will be positively related and masculinity will
be inversely related to this chilhood role.
The independent variable in this hypothesis was
whether or not subjects had participated in the role of
the good child in the family of origin. This variable was
measured by the GCRI. The dependent variable in this
hypothesis was sex-role identity (feminine, masculine,
undifferentiated or androgynous). The dependent variables
were measured by the Bern Sex-Role Inventory.
Results of this analysis are depicted in Table 7. No
j significant differences were found between the two groups
i
on sex-role identification X(3) = 4.0, p>.05. Hypothesis
I
129
Table 6
T-tests of Mean Scores on Adult Dependent
Variables and Good Child Role Status
Dependent
Variable
Indeoendent
Good Child
(N=92)
Variable
Controls
(N=85) t
Empathy 42.9 32.4 -3.07*
Public Self-
Consciousness
21.5 21.5 . 03
Private Self-
Consciousness
24.9 25.6 .81
Social Anxiety 13.8 12.8 -.85
Psychological
Discomfort
9.6 10.2 .77
Psychological
Expressiveness
14.0 15.2 1. 56
Note. df = 175 for all analyses.
*P< . 01
i
130
Table 7
Chi-Square Analyses of Adult Dependent Variables
and Good Child Role Status
Dependent
Variable
Independent
Good Child
(N=92)
(%)
Variable
Controls
(N=8 5)
(%)
X df
Gender
Male (27) (53)
29.3 62 .4
Female (65) (32)
70.7 37.6 18. 1* 1
Sex-Role Identitv
Androgynous (27) (22)
31.4 28.9
Masculine (13) (18)
15.1 23.7
Feminine (24) (13)
27.9 17.1
Undifferentiated (22) (23)
25.6 30.3 14.01 3
Eao-Identitv Status
Diffusion (23) (22)
29.1 27.5
Foreclosure (48) (47)
60.8 58.8
Moratorium (7)
(9)
8.9 11.3
Achievement
(1)
(2)
1.3 2.5 .61 3
*p< .0001
131
V was not supported by this research. The null hypothesis
was accepted.
Results Related to Hypothesis VI
The following hypothesis was investigated using a
| chi-square statistical analysis.
Hypothesis VI: The good child role will be significantly
related to gender, such that more females than males will
have participated in this childhood role.
The independent measure in this hypothesis was
whether or not subjects had participated in the role of
the good child in the family of origin. This variable was
measured by the GCRI. The dependent variable was gender.
! This variable was elicited in the demographics section of
the research instrument.
Results of this analysis are depicted in Table 7.
There was a statistically significant difference found
between the two groups with respect to gender X(l) = 18.1,
P<.001. More females than males were in the role of the
good child in their families of origin. Hypothesis VI was
supported by this research. The null hypothesis was
i
| rejected.
I
! Results Related to Hypothesis VII
i
! The following hypothesis was investigated using a t- ]
i
j test program of statistical analysis.
132
Hypothesis VII: The good child role will be significantly
related to psychological adjustment.
The independent variable in this hypothesis was
whether or not subjects had participated in the role of
the good child in the family of origin. This variable was
measured by the GCRI. The dependent variable in this
hypothesis was psychological adjustment. This variable
was measured by the Discomfort Scale of the Psychological
Screening Inventory.
Results of this analysis are shown in Table 6. There
was no significant difference between the two groups in
relation to psychological adjustment t(175) = .77, p>.05.
Hypothesis VII was not supported by this research. The
null hypothesis was accepted.
Results Related to Hypothesis VIII
The following hypothesis was investigated using a t-
test program of statistical analysis.
Hypothesis VIII: The good child will be significantly and
inversely related to extraversion.
i The independent variable in this hypothesis was
j whether or not subjects had participated in the role of
1
] the good child in the family of origin. This variable was
! measured by the GCRI. The dependent variable in this
! hypothesis was extraversion. This variable was measured
133
by the Expression Scale of the Psychological Screening
Inventory.
Results of this analysis are shown in Table 6.
There were no significant difference found between the two
groups on extraversion t(175) = 1.56, p>.05. Hypothesis
VIII was not supported by this research. The null
hypothesis was accepted.
Results Related to Hypothesis IX
The following hypothesis was investigated using a
chi-square statistical analysis.
Hypothesis IX: The good child role will be significantly
related to ego identity, such that more of those individ
uals who participated in the good child role will have
ego-identity statuses that fall into the non-crisis (non
exploration) groups of diffusion (no committment) and
foreclosure (committment based on parental expectations)
as opposed to identity achieved and moratorium statuses
which constitute the crisis (exploration) groups.
The independent variable in this hypothesis was
whether or not subjects had participated in the role of
the good child in the family of origin. This variable was
measured by the GCRI. The dependent variable in this
hypothesis was ego identity status (achieved, diffused,
foreclosed or moratorium). This variable was measured by
the Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status.
j Results of this analysis are depicted in Table 7.
I
I There were no significant differences discovered between
134
the two groups on ego identity status X(3) = .61 p>.05.
Hypothesis IX was not supported by this research. The
null hypothesis was accepted.
Results Related to Hypothesis X
The following hypothesis was investigated using a
mixed model (hierarchical and stepwise) of discriminant
function analysis.
Hypothesis X: Adult characteristics of gender, empathic
capacity, self-consciousness, sex-role identity, obedi
ence, nonconformity and eagerness to please others will
reliably predict whether or not an individual participated
in the role of the good child in the family of origin.
The independent or predictor variables in this analy
sis were: gender, empathy, public self-consciousness,
private self-consciousness, social anxiety, sex-role iden
tity. obedience, nonconformity and eagerness to please
others. The dependent or outcome variables (the grouping
variables) were the groups— good child role or control.
< A hierarchical and stepwise discriminant function
analysis was performed using the 10 adult variables as
predictors of membership in the two groups. There were
255 original cases; 9 3 of these were excluded from the
analysis. Seventy-five of these were not classified in
I either of the two groups (their scores on the GCRI fell in
i
' the middle one-third of the distribution of scores and
I
i were therefore not classified in either of the two
135
groups); the other 18 of these 93 were dropped from analy
sis due to missing data. For the remaining 162 cases,
evaluation of assumptions of linearity, normality,
multicollinearity or singularity revealed no threat to
multivariate analysis.
There was a statistically significant discrimination
among the two groups on the basis of seven of the 10 vari
ables X(7) = 48.93, p<.001 as shown in Table 8. The first
two predictor variables were entered into the analysis in
a hierarchical manner based on a priori theoretical deter
minants and results of univariate statistical analyses of
the sample data. The first variable to be forced into the
analysis was gender. Gender (Step 1) accounted for 15.3%
of the variance in the grouping variables. Being female
was more likely to predict good child role status than
being male F(1,160) = 28.98, p<.001. The next variable to
be forced into the analysis was empathy. With the addi
tion of empathy (Step 2), 16.2% of the cummulative vari
ance was then accounted for. The findings showed that
empathy scores contributed significantly to the prediction
of good child role status F(1,160) = 15.34, p<.001.
The next four predictor variables— adult rebellious-
; ness, obedience, nonconformity and eagerness to please
! others— were entered stepwise into the analysis (statisti
cal criteria determined order of entry) as a group. Adult
i ___________________________________________________________________
Table 8
Discriminant Function Analysis of Predictor Variables of Good
Child Role Group Status
Step
Predictor
Variable
Standardized
Canonical
Discrim.Func.
Coefficient
Wilks 1
Lambda R
Eigen
value
Canonical
Correlation X
1 Gender .714 .847 .153
2 Empathy .238 .838 .162
3 Obedience .448 .779 .221
4 Non-
Conforming
-.252 .759 .241
5 Rebellious
ness
-.241 .748 .259
6 Public Self- .246
Consciousness
.741 .259
7 Social
Anxiety
.224 .732 .269 .367 .518 48.93*
Note. R = 1 - Lambda; df = 7
137
obedience was the first variable of this group to enter
the analysis (Step 3), F(l,160) = 14.9, pc.OOl. Adult
nonconformity next entered the analysis (Step 4), F(l,160)
j = 12.4, p<.001. Adult rebelliousness entered the analysis
(Step 5), F(1,160) = 10.5, pc.OOl. The addition of these
three variables into the analysis raised the cumulative
variance accounted for to 25.2%. Adult eagerness to
please others did not significantly contribute to the
variance accounted for and therefore never entered the
analysis.
The last four predictor variables— sex-role identity,
public self-consciousness, private self-consciousness and
social anxiety— were then entered stepwise into the analy-
! sis as a group. Adult public self-consciousness was the
i
! first variable of the group to enter the analysis (Step
6), F(1,160) = 8.07, pc.OOl. Adult social anxiety next
entered the analysis (Step 7), F (1,160) = 8.07, pc.OOl.
Adult private self-consciousness and sex-role identity did
not contribute significantly to the variance accounted for
i
| and therefore were never entered into the analysis.
i
; Approximately 27% of the variance in good child role
i
| status had been accounted for at the end of the analysis. |
On the basis of the seven predictor variables entered into
, the discriminant function analysis, approximately 68% of j
i the cases were classified correctly.
138
A Pearson Product-Moment correlation coefficient
matrix (Table 9) has shown that a number of the dependent
and independent variables investigated in this study are
i
I
significantly related. The relationships between these
variables are discussed in the following section.
Table 9
Pearson Intercorrelation Coefficient Matrix of Research Variables
Variable
Good
Child Emp.
Priv.
S.C.
Public
S.C.
Soc.
Anx.
Sex
Role
Psy. Psy. Ego
Gender Disc. Exp. I.D.
Good Child 1.00
Empathy .226 1.00
Private
Self-Cons. -.061 .277 1.00
Public
Self-Cons. -.002 .330 .366 1.00
Social
Anxiety .064 .105 .115 .218 1.00
Sex Role .063 .018 -.183 -.012 .318 1.00
Gender .331 .357 .000 .106 -.067 .081 1.00
Psych.
Discomf. -.058 .080 .173 .125 .401 .212 .028 1.00
Psych.
Express. -.117 .029 -.027 .017 -.667 -.385 .074 -.350 1.00
Ego I.D. -.049 .040 -.088 .048 .060 .094 .024 .062 -.025 1.00
*p < .05
**p < .01
***p < .001
139
140
CHAPTER V
DISCUSSION I
I
This exploratory research has empirically addressed J
i I
jthe concept of the good child as the other-oriented, self- |
i
i i
^alienated individual. The good child (although not neces- i
i
sarily labeled as such) has been directly addressed or
alluded to in the clinical observations and theoretical
discourse of writers such as Miller (1981), Bosznormenyi-
I
Nagy (1973) and Horney (1950). A major intent of this j
I
exploratory research has been to take this theoretical and j
clinical notion out of the literature and attempt to
operationalize and measure it. The results of this
empirical investigation have suggested that there is an
identifiable segment of individuals in the population who
i
participated in the role of the good child in the family |
jof origin; these individuals can be differentiated from j
others on the basis of certain childhood experiences and j
i
adult characteristics. These experiences and characteris- 1
i
tics are described in this chapter? the associated theo-
i
retical and clinical implications of these findings for I
t h e good c h i l d r o l e a r e a l s o d i s c u s s e d . R ecom m endations j
for further research are also included. |
141
Good Child Role Inventory
The initial task of this research was the development
of a reliable and valid instrument to measure good child
role status and its concomitant variables. The Good Child
Role Inventory (GCRI), developed for this research, has
been found to be a reliable and valid instrument based on
initial empirical evaluation. The GCRI has provided
initial descriptive information on the childhoods, adoles
cence and adulthoods of individuals who participated in
the good child role in the family of origin. A contribu
tion of this research, therefore, has been the introduc
tion of this instrument into the literature as a research
tool for further investigation of this family role cate
gory.
Profile of the Good Child
A preliminary decription of the good child role has
been derived from the results of this investigation. A
profile of this individual in childhood, adolescence and
adulthood is outlined below.
Gender was found to be a significant predictor of
participation in the good child role in the family. The
results of this investigation indicated that the good
child is most likely to be female. During childhood the
142
good child can be described as significantly more
conforming, self-sacrificing, eager to please others and
obedient than cohorts. These children can also be
described as being more sensitive to the needs of their
parents than to their own needs. These children typically
have excellent conduct records and good academic grades.
During adolescence, those who participated in the
role of the good child, can also be described as signifi
cantly more conforming, obedient and eager to please than
cohorts. These adolescents typically have excellent
conduct records and good academic grades. The adolescence
of these individuals can be characterized as not including
the typical adolescent rebelliousness of cohorts.
During young adulthood, those who participated in the
role of the good child, can continue to be described as
significantly more obedient and eager to please others
than cohorts. These individuals, as adults, however, no
longer view themselves as conforming or self-sacrificing.
i
i
These young adults have significantly greater empathic (
capacity and public self-consciousness than cohorts.
It is important to note that the information on the
childhood and adolescence of the good child is based on
retrospective accounts of subjects and therefore subject
to the limitations discussed in a preceding chapter. The
external validity of this study, as previously cited, has
143
also been limited by the use of college students as
subjects. Future research on the distribution and import
of the good child role in post-college and adult popula
tions would be valuable and improve the generalizability
of results. Further research on the good child role in
more diverse groups is also suggested in order to explore
the research finding that more Black and more Catholic
subjects had participated in the role of the good child in
the family of origin.
Empathy and the Good Child Role
The positive relationship between having been a good
child and empathic capacity has been empirically estab
lished by this research. This finding is consistent with
theoretical prediction and clinical observation. This
finding has raised the question of why individuals who
participated in the good child role are more empathic than
others. Further empirical research addressing this ques
tion is indicated. Presently only theoretical and clini
cal speculation, based on on the literature previously
reviewed, can be offered as explanation for this finding.
Children early on have the capacity to be empathic
(Feshbach, 1975, 1978, 1980b, 1982; Hoffman, 1975, 1977a,
1977b, 1978, 1984). Even though children have the i
j
capacity to be empathic, it has been stated that it is the j
144
caretaker's responsibility to be more empathic with and
mirror the child (not vice versa) for healthy development
to occur (Kohut, 1970). This current research has sug
gested that some parents cast certain children— and cer
tain children readily assume— the role of the good child.
It is possible that some parents exploit their children's
empathic capacities and cast them into roles that encour
age their mirroring of the other rather than the self.
The primary caretaker of a child who encourages such
behavior has been described as emotionally insecure and as
needing the child to behave in a particular way in order
to gratify unresolved needs of their own. The most avail
able, vulnerable object is a child who will adapt to the
needs of the caretaker in return for love and security.
The development of the real self gets thwarted in this
situation because the child is encouraged and rewarded for
not attending to self needs, but for adapting and attend
ing to the needs of the other. Significantly more sub
jects who participated in the role of the good child in
the family of origin reported being more sensitive to
their parents' needs than to their own needs while they
were growing up. The other-orientation of the good child
can lead to self-alienation. Miller (1981) has suggested
that perhaps the abilities of the "well-behaved, empathic,
understanding, and convenient child" are misused. The
145
healthy narcissism and expected self-centeredness of the
child are absent and replaced with a higher concern for
the other.
The review of the literature on empathy revealed that
it is considered to be a highly adaptive, healthy charac
teristic of an individual. The question that this
research has raised, however, is whether or not an indi
vidual can be too empathic. When does the possession of
this attribute become pathological or interfere with self
development? Theoretical and clinical wisdom would seem
to suggest that when the other becomes more important and
attended to than the self, the self becomes compromised or
sacrificed to some degree. Other findings of the current
research have offered insight into this question by
examining the identity development, self-consciousness and
general psychological adjustment of subjects.
The previous literature reviewed on empathy suggested
that empathic parental models can enhance the development
of empathic capacity in children. Goldstein and Michaels
(1985), however, have suggested that motivation and skill
in empathic behaviors can be fostered self-defensively by
having egocentric or manipulative parents. Hall (1979)
examined the "decoding ability" of empathic females. She
thereafter proposed a "responding to oppression" hypothe
sis :
14
One possible explanation for women's superior
decoding ability is that they develop fine
skills in nonverbal judgment as a way of saving
their skins. The hypothesis states that
oppressed or subjugated people need to be alert
and responsive in order to know how more power
ful others are feeling from moment to moment.
(p. 54)
Gender and the Good Child Role
This research has revealed that significantly more
females than males reported having participated in the
role of the good child in the family of origin. This
finding is significant because childhood gender socializa
tion experiences are important antecedents of females'
choices throughout their lives (Huston-Stein & Higgins-
Trenk, 1978). The childhood roles that female children
are assigned and may compliantly assume are therefore
important and deserve greater attention. The gender
difference found in this study was predicted by the theo
retical and clinical writings on self development.
Females have been described as more empathic and conform
ing to others' expectations and needs. It is possible
that the higher empathic capacity of females make them
more vulnerable to becoming self-sacrificing and other-
pleasing. Cultural and parental expectations of females
as selflessly committed to attending to the needs of
others may encourage female children to adopt "good girl"
147
postures in the world. However, as Horney observed over
three decades ago, there is a cost to the assumption of a
role such as the good child role. The adoption of the
coping strategy of "moving towards others" results in
alienation from self; the child who adopts this strategy
grows into a tool of her or his family and society and
loses the struggle for self-realization. Further research
into this gender difference in family role assignment is
therefore indicated in order to further elucidate the
obstacles to self-realization and creative growth faced by
females.
The gender difference in good child role status
revealed by this empirical research also has implications
for the longstanding theoretical controversy in the
psychoanalytic literature over the notion of a defective
structure of superego in females. The finding that
females are more likely than males to empathize, adapt to
and comply with the needs of the other supports
Applegarth's (1976) statement that,
Women often seem to have as superego content the
value that they should be responsive to the
wishes and opinions of others. Such a value
system will certainly result in behavior that
will at first glance appear to reflect, as Freud
says, a less inexorable, independent superego.
Furthermore, the areas that men and women regard
as matters for the superego may vary somewhat.
(p. 264)
148
Gilligan (1982) has discussed the notion that the
feminine value system is different, not inferior, to the
masculine value system. Future research needs to address
the relationship of gender differences in the participa
tion in various family roles and the subsequent differen
tial content of the superegos of females and males.
Mental Health of the Good Child
The results of this investigation revealed that there
were no differences in the psychological adjustment of
subjects who had participated in the role of the good
child and those who had not. It is possible that growing
up as a good child has no adverse effects on later mental
health. It is also possible that good children comprise a
more heterogeneous group than anticipated; there may be
different reasons and motivations for being the good
child— some more pathological and distressing than others.
A competing explanation, however, for this particular
finding is that the objective, self-report measure of
perceived maladjustment used in this study was not sensi
tive to the subjective distress involved in participating
in the good child role. The Di scale of the Psychological
Screening Inventory was designed to measure perceived
maladjustment, anxiety and neuroticism and (in reverse)
ego strength or resiliency. However, if subjects who were
149
the good children in their families of origin have well-
developed and defended egos, their subjective distress and
arrests of self-growth and creative expression (also a
form of psychological maladjustment) would not be tapped
by the instrument used in this research to assess mental
health.
The previously discussed theoretical and clinical
wisdom on the good child would suggest that these children
do develop strong egos to compensate for the ego defects
of parents? therefore standard measures of mental health
may miss the more subtle disturbances of these individ
uals. These individuals may have the tendency to over
compensate for parents and to become parentified children
to a degree. This notion is consistent with the subjec
tive comments made by subjects who participated in the
role of the good child. Although the objective results
revealed no differences in psychological adjustment, the
subjective commentaries suggested that there may be
differences. Given the exploratory nature of this
research, the phenomenological or subjective experiences
of subjects are important to take into consideration in
the process of illuminating the role of the good child.
Subjects were asked to comment on how it felt (or
feels) to be in the role of the good child in the family
of origin. Subjects typically commented that they liked
150
the role because it afforded them a positive sense of
identity within the family of origin (as opposed to the
negative identitites of siblings who were not compliant
and conforming) and they were rewarded with love, approval
and a sense of pleasing others. This is in agreement with
the literature on family role categories reviewed earlier
that suggested that roles provide individuals with a sense
of identity within the family and bring with them both
positive and negative aspects for the participant (Karpel
& Strauss, 1983). The subjective commentaries offered by
subjects also revealed the negative aspects of this family
role category. The following examples of subjects' com
ments exemplify this point:
"I am the oldest of two children and, due to my own
imagined 'duties' and the pressures of my parents I felt
the need to be an exemplary child. At times I felt as
though I supressed my child-like qualities and rebellious
ness and made myself 'grow up too quickly' in order to
please my parents .... I also felt I should be a 'good'
obedient child to make up for my sister's rebelliousness
and wild streak."
"I liked the praise and attention I got for being
good but that was all I was. I could never express my
opinion because they didn't accept it as valid or meaning
ful . "
"It's hard. I find myself struggling to be 'good'
because I know that's what people expect and I worry a lot
that I may somehow fail them in that respect."
"I feel that my life is [was] run for me. I was the
'good child' because I was the only child."
"I felt as though I was sacrificing what I wanted to
make my parents happy."
151
"Sometimes it feels good because everyone always
liked me and was always telling me how good I was. But at
other times I just wished that I could do what I wanted to
do and not take into consideration others' feelings".
"I felt pressured and burdened and still do."
"I don't know myself because I spent so much energy
always trying to please my parents and everyone else."
The comments of subjects who had participated in the
role of the good child emphasized self-sacrifice in the
pursuit of approval, being liked, pleasing and living up
to the high expectations of others. These comments fur
ther revealed the pressure, high sense of responsibility
and conditional parental love experienced by the good
child.
Another common theme of these commentaries was sub
jects' relationships to their siblings. This is exempli
fied in the following examples:
"My brother acted-out. There was nothing else for me
to be but to be good and nice because I needed to help my
parents deal with him. I was their girl and knew I never
wanted to hurt them. I didn't get a whole lot of atten
tion but knew I was loved for being good."
I
1
"I always worried about others' needs and feelings i
being satisfied and I usually put myself last behind my (
parents and brothers to make sure they were met." j
i
"It's nice to be the child your parents can rely on."
"Not good, because the 'bad' or 'problem' child gets
all the attention. I felt abandoned."
"Sometimes it created problems with sisters because
they were compared with me and told they were
'bad children.'"
152
These comments are consistent with the principle of
complementarity of roles in family systems theory which
suggests that family roles are complementary (Karpel &
Strauss, 1983). A common occurrence in the family of
origin of the subject who was the good child was the pre
sence of a "bad" child. Further research needs to be
conducted to examine how children assume or are chosen for
a particular role within the family. Which child, for
example, becomes the good child of the family? Miller
(1981) theorized that the first-born child was the most
vulnerable to being chosen by the primary caretaker to
fulfill her or his needs and to thereby become the other-
oriented, self-sacrificing child. This research, however,
showed that birth order was an insignificant predictor of j
good child role status. A variable that deserves research j
attention is the interaction of an infant's temperament j
and the role she or he participates in in the family. ]
i
The investigation of this type of variable requires j
the use of an in-depth, naturalistic and longitudinal j
study designed to assess the family system as it is j
occurring (as opposed to retrospectively); this could |
I
serve to eliminate many of the limitations discussed pre- I
viously which restrict the interpretation of the results
of this study.
153
Another interesting question for future research to
investigate is how siblings affect one another's role
assumption and self-definition. Some theorists have sug
gested that siblings imitate one another and arrive at
similar self-definitions (Bandura, 1962). Others have
offered the opposite suggestion. Bossard and Boll (1956)
have suggested that siblings want to make their own unique
mark and therefore distinguish themselves from one
another. This notion is consistent with the family sys
tems concept of complementarity and with the subjective
comments on siblings offered by subjects. The investiga
tion of the sibling matrix of the identified patient may
reveal the presence of a good child (perhaps an unidenti- j
i
fied patient) attempting to deidentify with the identified
patient by engaging in prosocial behavior in order to gain
approval and balance the family system.
Further research is also needed to explore the nega
tive consequences of participation in the good child role, j
The theoretical literature and the subjective commentaries !
of subjects revealed long-term distress from having been j
in this role (and from often continuing to be in the adult j
version of the good child role), though this was not
i
empirically substantiated by the objective measures of j
this research. The clinical implications of this informa
tion for psychotherapists working with families are
154
important. Empirical evidence supporting the theoretical
and anecdotal information on the psychological distress of
some individuals who participate in the role of the good
child in the family of origin can provide the impetus for
psychotherapists to begin to attend to the unidentified
patient as well as to the identified patient in the family
system. It has been a contention of this research that
closer attention must be placed on the child with
internalizing pathology (no overt symptomatology) who may
be silently suffering from feelings of being overburdened
and pressured to conform and comply with parental needs
and expectations (oftentimes in order to compensate for
siblings who differentiate themselves from parents and
express a full range of feelings and behaviors). Psycho
therapists may need to become aware of the modus operandus
of the good child to look well-adjusted in order to please
the parent and cause no problem to the family.
Self-Identitv and the Good Child Role
Ego identity status was found to be an insignificant
predictor of good child role status in this research. The
process of self-identity development can be conceptualized
from various perspectives, as indicated in the review of
the literature, depending on the level of analysis
examined (e.g., intrapsychic structuralization,
155
acquisition of social and vocational skills, internaliza
tion of societal norms prescriptive of "adult" behavior,
etc.)- The level of analysis of self-identity chosen in
this research has been that of the Eriksonian concept of
ego identity which examines the mode of acquisition of
specific social and ideological values. The OM-EIS was
chosen because it is an empirically-derived and validated
measure of the theoretical concept of ego identity. There
are few valid and reliable measures of identity concepts
in the literature due to the conceptual confusion and non
operationalization of identity terms. This has posed a
problem for research attempting to measure self-identity
which has only been clinically observed and described in
the non-experimental psychodynamic tradition. The more
intrapsychic dimensions of identity may have been missed
by the instrument employed in this research. This factor
is important since it is possible that it is on these
dimensions that the differences between the self-
identities of the two subject groups could exist.
Two particular identity dimensions which are essen
tial from a psychodynamic perspective are separation-
individuation and internalization of self-regulatory func
tions (Bios, 1967? Kohut, 1971). Bios (1967), as reviewed
previously, suggested that an individual separates from
parents on two levels: an object-relational level and an
156
intrapsychic level. At the object-relational level, the
individual withdraws emotional cathexis from parents and
reinvests it in more appropriate adult objects. At the
intrapsychic level of separation-individuation, there is a
disengagement from archaic representations of parents
internalized from early childhood identifications. These
identifications exert potent influences (via the superego)
in determining which behaviors are good and which are bad.
A prerequisite for proper identity development, then, is
the individual's capacity to attain sufficient freedom
from early parental identifications to assimilate new
experience. The individual who does not attain this will
tend to remain under the influence of an internalized,
overly punitive experience of parental approval and dis
approval. This individual, according to this perspective,
will remain in conflict over giving primacy to personal
motives and goals when they appear to be in conflict with
the dictates of archaic parental images.
This was the theoretically proposed identity dilemma
of the good child, however, the currently available
limited measures of identity prevented its empirical
investigation. These psychodynamic concepts do not read
ily lend themselves to empirical measurement. As psycho
dynamic concepts continue to be operationalized and valid
and reliable measures constructed for their measurement,
157
more of these dimensions will be available to study.
Until this time, however, concepts that are likely to
reflect an individual's separation-individuation or self
regulating capacities can be measured to indirectly exam
ine identity. Four constructs meriting future research in
relation to the good child are: (1) internal versus
external locus of control; (2) field independence;
(3) resistance to manipulations of self-esteem; and (4)
resistance to pressures to conform in conformity experi
ments .
The study of intrapsychic processes mediating iden
tity development has remained a relatively untouched
domain. Much empirical research remains to be completed
in this area, particularly in reference to other-oriented
individuals. The locus of pathology of the individual who
participated in the role of the good child in the family
of origin may be in a more intrapersonal realm (as opposed
to the more social realm tapped by the OM-EIS) and further |
study is needed to develop and employ psychological meas
ures that can tap into this domain.
An area particularly meriting further investigation
is that of adolescent rebellion and the good child. The
finding that a negative history for adolescent rebellious
ness significantly predicted good child role status should
be further investigated. An adolescent rebellion, as Bios
158
(1967) suggested, affords an individual a second opportun
ity for separation-individuation from parents. It is
further suggested that the unique developmental sequence
of the good child must be more closely focused upon in
order to understand the process of self-development and
psychological adjustment of these individuals as adults.
Concluding Remarks
This study, overall, has empirically validated a
number of popular theoretical and clinical notions on the
other-oriented, self-alienated individual. The findings
of this and future investigations may serve to provide
psychotherapists with needed insight into the childhoods,
adolescence and adulthoods of distressed individuals who
participated in the role of the good child in the family
of origin.
Certainly, as was the expectation and intent of this
exploratory work, more questions than answers have been
generated by this research. The lines of inquiry initi
ated by this research can be refined and enhanced with
further empirical and phenomenological study as suggested
in the preceding discussion.
159
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APPENDICES
APPENDIX A
RESEARCH PARTICIPANT INFORMATION FORM
RESEARCH PARTICIPANT INFORMATION FORM
The purpose of this form is to inform you about the nature of the
psychological research that you have been invited to participate
in. The purpose of this research is to learn more about
relationship of childhood to later adult adjustment. This
research has been designed and is being conducted by Deborah
R. Winograd, M.S., as part of her doctoral dissertation at the
University of Southern California (USC), under the guidance of
Drs. Betty Walker, Frank.Fox and Barbara Soloman, USC, University
Park, Los Angeles, California 90089.
Participation in this research involves the completion of an
anonymous and confidential questionnaire. The questionnaire
includes some items that elicit information about your current
life, as well as information about your childhood and early
family life. Some of the questions may seem very personal and
you may feel uncomfortable about responding to them. You are
free not to answer any question which you feel to be personally
discomforting. There are no known risks associated with the
completion of this questionnaire.
Participation in this research is strictly voluntary. You are
free to discontinue your participation at any time without
penalty.
Participation in this research is completely anonymous. Nowhere
on the questionnaire are you asked to identify yourself.
Inquiries concerning the procedures employed in this research and
further questions about the nature of this research will be
answered at any time by the researcher. Address inquiries to :
Deborah R. Winograd, M.S., c/0 Betty Walker, Ph.D., USC,
University Park, Lcs Angeles, California, 90089— 0031.
Again, with the above considerations in mind, and with the
understanding that the questionnaire is strictly anonymous and
confidential, your participation in this research is invited.
DEBORAH R. WINOGRAD, M.S. BETTY WALKER, PH.D.
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN-CALIFORNIA, UNIVERSITY PARK, LOS ANGELES,CALIFORNIA 90089-0031
180
APPENDIX
DEMOGRAPHIC PROFILE OF PILOT SUBJECTS
181
Demographic Profile of Pilot Subjects
Variable Number
(N)
Percentage
(%)
Gender
Male 22 71. 0
Female 9 29.0
Age
18 - 20 18 58. 1
21 - 22 10 32.2
25 - 31 3 9.7
Ethnicity
Caucasian 15 48. 4
Asian 11 35. 5
Black 1 3.2
Other 4 12.9
Religion (as child)
Catholic 9 29.0
Protestant 7 22.6
Christian 4 12.9
None 3 9.7
Other 8 25.8
Average Family Income (as child)
$10K - 19.9K 2 6.5
$20K - 29.9K 4 12.9
$30K - 39.9K 1 3 . 2
$40K - 49.9K 4 12.9
$5OK or above 20 64.5
I
APPENDIX C
GOOD CHILD ROLE INVENTORY
183
Section v
Please respond to the following questions about your childhood
and youth. Answer each question in a manner that most accurately
describes that time period in your life. If you cannot recall the
requested information, leave that item blank.
1. My grades in elementary school were (circle one):
Excellent Very Good Good Average Below Average
2. My grades in high school were (circle one):
Excellent Very Good Good Average Below Average
3- My elementary school conduct record was (circle one):
Excellent Very Good Good Average Below Average
U. My high school conduct record was (circle one):
Excellent Very Good Good Average Below Average
5. Check [] al1 of the adjectives that applied to you as a
child (before age 12) in your family:
Rebel1ious []
Disobedient []
Eager to Please []
Self-Cen tered []
Self-Sacri fi cing []
Obedient []
Non-conforming [] Conforming []
Check [] all of the adjectives that applied to you
teenager (ages 12-18) in your famil.v:
as a
Rebellious []
Disobedient []
Eager to Please [] Self-Centered []
Self-Sacrificing
[]
Obedient []
Non-conforming [] Conforming []
Check fl all of the adjectives that aDDl.v to you now:
Rebel1ious
[]
Disobedient []
Eager to Please [] Self-Centered []
Self-Sacrificing [] Obedient []
Non-confo rmi n g [] Conforming []
I recall being more sens
own needs: Yes []
itive to my parents' needs
No [ ]
than to my
9. As a child (before age 12), how comfortable were you in
expressing your emotions? (circle one):
Very Somewhat Not Very Not At All
Comfortable Comfortable Comfortable Comfortable
A ’’good child” has been described as one who does not cause
problems in the family- This child tends to be
nondemanding, obedient and conforming. He or she usually
takes care of other family members’ needs and feelings
before his or her own.
As a child (before age 12), I behaved like a ’’good child”
(circle one):
Always Usually Sometimes Seldom Never
As a teenager (ages 12-18), X behaved like a ’’good child”
(circle one):
Always Usually Sometimes Seldom Never
If you believe that you were the ’’good child” in your
family, plaaee describe how it felt (or feels) to be in this
role in your family:
In some families, different family members play different
roles. For example, an individual may be the family
scapegoat (gets blamed a lot), the rebel (causes trouble),
the caretaker (takes care of others’ feelings and needs), the
silent member (does not express oneself), etc.
What role (s) did you Play In your f amily'? _______________
Briefly describe: ___________________________________________________
Did you ever have the feeling as a child that you were
responsible for either of your parents’ security or happiness?
(circle one):
Always Usually Sometimes Seldom Never
Some teenagers disagree, argue and behave in disaccord (quarrel
a lot, take drugs, stay out after curfew, runaway, etc.) with
their parents. This is often called an adolescent rebellion.
How rebellious were you an an adolescent? (circle one):
Always Usually Sometimes Seldom Never
Rebellious Rebellious Rebellious Rebellious Rebellious
18.5
15- How many brothers and sisters did you grow up with? __________
(if none enter ,fof f , skip Questions 16-30
and procede to Section VI)
16. Were you the (circle one):
Youngest Child Middle Child Oldest Child
17. Please answer the following questions about yourself in
relation Jlq your brother(s) and/or sister(s) as you were
growing up in your family. Respond to each item by indicating
how true or untrue the statement is of you on a scale
from 1 to 5* Refer to the following rating scale when
assigning a number to each item.
Ral-ins s.a .al e
1 = Never True
2 = Usually Not True
3 = Sometimes But Infrequently True
U = Occasionally True
5 = Often True
6 = Usually True
7 = Always True
ITEM RATING
IS . I tried hardes'
19. I was the most
20 . I was the most
21 . I got the best
2 2 . I was the most
23. I was the most
21. I obeyed my pa:
25. I got the most
26 . I was the most
27 . I was the most
23. I was mother's
29. I was father * s
30. I was the most
favori te

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Asset Metadata

Creator Winograd, Deborah Robin (author)

Core Title The good child as the unidentified patient in the family system: A study of childhood antecedents of adult alienation from self

Degree Doctor of Philosophy

Degree Program Education-Counseling Psychology

Publisher University of Southern California (original), University of Southern California. Libraries (digital)

Tag OAI-PMH Harvest,Psychology, clinical

Language English

Contributor Digitized by ProQuest (provenance)

Permanent Link (DOI) https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c26-523983

Unique identifier UC11245901

Identifier usctheses-c26-523983 (legacy record id)

Legacy Identifier DP25260.pdf

Dmrecord 523983

Document Type Dissertation

Rights Winograd, Deborah Robin

Type texts

Source University of Southern California (contributing entity), University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses (collection)

Access Conditions The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the au...

Repository Name University of Southern California Digital Library

Repository Location USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus, Los Angeles, California 90089, USA