Ego development in women without higher education

Abstract

The study presents evidence that interpersonal and situational complexity, confrontation and conflict advance ego development in women. Thirty‐two pregnant women of moderate education and from modest educational backgrounds were studied. Loevinger's Sentence Completion Test was used to measure ego development, and interviews and tests with the subjects and their mothers formed the data from which the mother daughter, father‐daughter and parental relationship were assessed along with evaluation of environmental strain during childhood. The findings suggest that women at higher, compared to lower, stages of ego development are more individuated, and reared to more independence and conflict‐tolerance by less responsive, but more active and socially engaged mothers. High ego‐level daughters also had conflicted and overinvolved relationships to the fathers. Ego development was related to early environmental stress, parental marital strain and to present environmental stress. Personality or adjustment variables were not related to ego development. The relationship between ego development and complexities in the social environment was seen in light of the traditional over‐socialization of females which may impede ego development.