Sex differences in intellectual and ego development in late adolescence

Abstract

Perry's scheme of intellectual and ethical development was examined for sex differences with respect to areas of identity concern for which sex differences have been suggested: occupational choice, interpersonal relationships, and sexual identity. The content area of religion and ego development, as measured by Loevinger's sentence completion test (SCT), were also examined. Thirty-one females and 29 males participated. An interview format which applied Perry's unstructured approach to each of the four areas was utilized. Transcribed interviews and SCTs were rated blind. Structural as well as content analyses were performed. Structural analyses revealed no significant sex differences overall or by content area. However, multiple and stepwise regression analyses revealed patterns in which male personality processes consistently focused upon occupational issues while female processes focused upon interpersonal and sexual issues. Ego development was found to be highly correlated with intellectual development for men but unrelated for women. Content analyses suggest that women focus their interpersonal worlds developmentally upon issues of trust while men focus upon issues of rightness. Results are interpreted in the context of recent works by Gilligan concerning sex differences in development.