Feminist Identity Styles, Sexual and Non-Sexual Traumatic Events, and Psychological Well-Being in a Sample of Polish Women.

Abstract

The aim of the study was to investigate the relations between the development of a feminist identity and effects of traumatic stress in a sample of Polish women. The distinction between non-sexual and sexual traumatic events was made. It was hypothesized that individuals scoring high on the Synthesis and Active Commitment scales of the Feminist Identity Development Model would present a higher self-esteem and lower level of depression as compared with individuals having low scores on those scales and high scores on the Passive Acceptance scale. It was also assumed that the relation between the feminist identity styles and self-esteem and depression would be stronger in women who had experienced sexual traumatic events as compared with those who had experienced other kinds of trauma. A total of 273 women participated in the questionnaire research. Regression analyses were performed to test the interaction model, and the obtained results support all of the hypotheses.