Levels Of Self-differentiation Research Articles

Correlation between self-differentiation and professional adaptability among undergraduate nursing students in China

PurposeThis study aimed to investigate the current status of self-differentiation and professional adaptability among undergraduate nursing students, to analyze the relationship between these two variables, and to provide recommendations for nursing educators. MethodsA total of 341 nursing undergraduate students at the University of South China were investigated using the Differentiation of Self Inventory and the Professional Adaptability Scale for college students. ResultsThe mean scores of self-differentiation and professional adaptability were 3.70 ± 0.60 and 2.87 ± 0.37, respectively, and the two variables were positively correlated (P < 0.01). ConclusionThe level of self-differentiation of undergraduate nursing studentsaffects their professional adaptability. Nursing educators should consider the characteristics of self-differentiation of undergraduate nursing students in developing measures to improve their professional adaptability.

조손가족 조모의 자아분화 상태

Objectives : This study investigated the general characteristics, child rearing characteristics, and the level of self-differentiation of 120 custodial grandmothers. Methods : Data were collected with a self-administered questionnaire from 120 custodial grandmothers who registered Kinship Network in Busan City. Results : For the self-differentiation measure, the mean score of the sample was . However, the level of the fusion with emotion was extremely low partly due to the influence of collectivist culture of Korean society. The levels of emotional reactivity and fusion with emotion were significantly low which were dependent on depression (F=4.387, p=0.015). Conclusions : The findings of this study show the need to improve the level of self-differentiation by increasing the score of emotional reactivity and fusion with the emotion among the kinship network grandmothers. Therefore, supportive programs for kinship network grandmothers need to develop self-differentiation.

커플모래놀이치료가 대학생의 자아분화와 이성관계만족에 미치는 효과

This study was conducted to investigate the effect of sandplay therapy for couples on the self-differentiation, and heterosexual relationship satisfaction, of couples who are college students'. The subjects were four couples who are college students living in Seoul with low self-differentiation and heterosexual relationship satisfaction. I carried out sandplay therapy on four couples for once a week for 10 weeks, and each session was 70 minutes long. In this study, the self-differentiation scale was modified for Korea on the basis of Bowen's family systems theory (1976), and it was used as a research tool. Yu (2000) and Lee (2000) made a scale to measure heterosexual relationship satisfaction after they adjusted the Korea Marital Satisfaction Inventory (K-MSI). The scale was also used in order to compare pre-therapy and post-therapy traits and identify any changes. In addition, the group's behavior and interactions were observed and recorded in each session throughout the process of sandplay therapy with the couples, and the behanior and interactions were analyzed along with the change flow in the sand trays. The study's outcomes are summed up as follows. First, sandplay therapy with couples advances the level of self-differentiation in college students. Second, sandplay therapy with couples improves the heterosexual relationship satisfaction on college students. Third, the trays used in sandplay therapy with couples showed positive changes as the therapy progressed. As the sessions continued, negative factors in the trays decreased and the trays converged into one. As the sessions proceeded, it was observed that the couples became closer, felt more comfortable with each other, compromised and reflected on their relationship. The study's results show that sandplay therapy with couples increased the level of self-differentiation in college students and heterosexual relationship satisfaction, thus proving the therapy's effectiveness.

Differentiation of self and racial identity

This study explored the relationship between personal identity development and in-group/out-group identities within the sociopsychological context of the USA. Specifically, the study examined the relationship between Bowen’s construct of differentiation of self and Helms’ construct of racial identity for an American sample of 309 undergraduate and graduate students. Insofar as both models refer to a progression from an externally defined sense of self to an internally defined sense of self, it was hypothesized that higher levels of more sophisticated racial identity statuses would be positively associated with higher levels of self-differentiation for both white participants and participants of color. Overall, the findings suggest that for white students, attitudes associated with a more differentiated sense of self are also associated with a more sophisticated racial identity statuses, increased awareness of how white privilege and racism operate, and less internal conflict about one’s own racial identity. The results of this study also indicated that, in general, participants of color who have a more differentiated sense of self endorse attitudes associated with higher statuses of racial identity development, more awareness of societal racism, and less ambivalence about their racial identity. Implications of the findings for the practice of counseling and the training of counseling psychologists are considered.

대학생이 지각한 원가족 기능과 자기분화 및 심리적 안녕의 관계

The main purpose of this research was to examine a causal model concerning the direct and the indirect effect of family-of-origin functioning on psychological well-being through self-differentiation. The gender differences in the levels of the variables and the correlations among the variables were also examined. Participants were 587 female and 268 male students enrolled in nine different universities. The causal model was tested through structural equation model by using AMOS 8.0 program. The result showed that the levels of self-differentiation and psychological well-being were higher for males than for females, and that the three variables were positively associated to each other for both males and females. The result also indicated that male students' perception of family-of-origin functioning directly influenced their psychological well-being as well as indirectly through self-differentiation, while females' family-of-origin functioning had only a direct effect on their well-being. Results were discussed in terms of the applicability of self-differentiation to Korean college students and of the importance of family-of-origin functioning to improve students' mental health.

A case study of therapy of family therapy experiencing conflict due to low levels of self-differentiation with the mother at work and at home

A case study of therapy of family therapy experiencing conflict due to low levels of self-differentiation with the mother at work and at home

A Study on Special Teachers’ Perception of Teaching Professionalism and Occupational Stress according to the Level of Self differentiation

A Study on Special Teachers’ Perception of Teaching Professionalism and Occupational Stress according to the Level of Self differentiation

부부의 자아분화 수준에 따른 부부갈등과 결혼만족도에 관한 연구

The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of couples' self-differentiation by marital satisfaction according to couple's gender. The participants of the present study were 728 couples who lived in Chonbuk province. The data were collected by self-administered questionnaire method. Self-differentiation scale was consisted of such factors as emotional reactivity, I-position, emotional cut-off and fusion with others. The results of this research were as follows: First, there was significant difference in the level of total self-differentiation between husbands and wives. Second, there was significant difference in the levels of marital conflict and of marital satisfaction to levels of self differentiation. Third, self differentiation in both husbands and wives had an direct effect on marital satisfaction and stability through marital conflict. Fourth, marital conflict in both husbands and wives had a direct effect on marital satisfaction.

Divorced Parents' Conflict Management Styles

This study examines the relationship between divorced parents' modes of conflict management and two personality traits: self-differentiation, as defined by Bowen (1990), and narcissistic personality traits, using as its sample 100 Israeli divorcees, consisting of fifty ex-couples, with children. The findings show that the divorced parents' modes of conflict management style were affected both by their own levels of self-differentiation and narcissism and by the levels of these traits in their former spouses. Higher self-differentiation was associated with a lower propensity to use the attack mode among both the fathers and mothers. It was associated with a higher use of the compromise mode among the mothers but not among the fathers. Higher narcissism was associated with a higher level of the attack mode among the fathers but not among the mothers. In addition, the differentiation and narcissism of each of the ex-spouses contributed to the other's modes of conflict management style beyond the contribution made by their ownpersonality traits.

The Effect of Self-Differentiation on Marital Conflict

Abstract In 1967, Dr. Murray Bowen of the Georgetown University Department of Psychiatry introduced a new conceptual approach to marital and family therapy, appropriately named “Bowen Family Systems Theory” (BFST). The central theme of BFST is the theoretical concept of differentiation of self. Bowen hypothesized that lack of self-differentiation levels in the presence of anxiety within an emotional relationship were reflected by relational conflict. This study researches the correlation between self-differentiation and marital conflict. The operational hypothesis of this research study is that level of self-differentiation is a predictor of marital conflict. The sample population for this study was composed of military couples and married individuals seeking marital counseling from United States Army Family Life Chaplains or Army support services. The results of this study demonstrate that a significant negative correlation exists between level of self-differentiation and marital conflict among Army couples.

The Behavioral and Emotional Reactivity Index: Preliminary Evidence for Construct Validity from Three Studies

The purpose of this article is to introduce a new instrument: Behavioral/Emotional Reactivity Index (BERI). The goal in creation of BERI was to provide a means of assessing a critical aspect of individuation process-how young adults behaviorally respond to emotion-evoking situations that evolve out of their relationships with their parents. The assessment of this aspect appears to be missing in existing installments designed to tap individuation. The present article reports results of three studies that provide preliminary evidence for reliability and construct validity of this instrument. The conceptual foundation of BERI The BERI's conceptual foundation is based on importance of individuation process as a developmental task for adolescents and young adults. The individuation process is considered cornerstone of development that allows adolescents to assume adult roles and responsibilities (Allison & Sabatelli, 1988; Josselson, 1988). Individuation has been defined as a developmental process through which one comes to see oneself as separate and distinct within one's relational (familial, social, cultural) context (Karpel, 1976). The degree to which individuation has occurred is degree to which person no longer experiences him/herself as fusing with others in personal relationships. Defining characteristics of fusion include: dissolving of ego boundaries between self and other, inability to establish an I within a we, a high degree of identification with others, and dependence on others (Anderson & Sabatelli, 1990; Karpel, 1976; Sabatelli & Mazor, 1985). Individuation is a process through which individuals develop ability to act autonomously while remaining emotionally connected to significant others (Anderson & Sabatelli, 1990; Josselson, 1988; Karpel, 1976; Sabatelli & Mazor, 1985; Shapiro, 1988). When conceived of in this way, individuation concept has much in common with Bowen's (1978) notion of self-differentiation and Williamson's (1982) concept of personal authority in family system. Bowen (1978), for example, identifies two aspects of differentiation of self. The first aspect is differentiation of emotional from intellectual functioning within self and degree of choice one has over which type of functioning will govern one's behavior. The higher differentiation of self, greater capacity to be in close emotional contact with significant others without having one's thinking, emotions, and behavior governed by seemingly involuntary reactions to those relationships or by accompanying emotional environment; Friedman, 1991; Kerr, 1984). The second aspect is described as the process by which individuality and togetherness are managed by a person and within a relationship O(err & Bowen, 1988; p. 95). Within this view, higher levels of self differentiation do not only lead to increased individuality, but also to the ability to allow togetherness [which] urges free rein (Kerr & Bowen, 1988, p. 95). Williamson's (1982) concept of personal authority in family system is even more explicitly defined as synthesis of separateness and connectedness. This concept refers to the achievement of peerlike intimacy in interactions with all persons, including parents, while also maintaining an individuated stance (Harvey & Bray, 1991, p. 300). What characterizes personal authority, then, is ability to develop and maintain a coherent sense of self while being emotionally involved with others, that is, ability to interact with intimate others without becoming fused, dependent, or over-identified with them. The Individuation Process and Emotional/Behavioral Reactivity The individuation process during adolescence and early adulthood requires a reworking of parent/child relationship (Allison & Sabatelli, 1988; Youniss, 1983). Adolescents must alter their lingering financial and functional dependencies on their families if they are to succeed at managing demands of adult roles and responsibilities off. …

Differentiation of Self and Attachment Among Adult Daughters

The relation among the variables differentiation of self, attachment to mother, and two indicators of mental health were studied in 83 nonclinical adult daughters from a Southern community. An a priori causal model was proposed and tested. Bowen's (1976) theory of differentiation of self and Bowlby's (1969) attachment theory provided the conceptual framework. An operational Daughter Model was tested using the statistical program LISREL. Compared to mothers, daughters scored significantly lower on differentiation of self. Daughter's attachment to mother and daughter's level of self-differentiation were not causally related, supporting the view that differentiation of self and attachment are separate variables in personality development. The daughters' levels of differentiation of self were positively related to positive energy, thus supporting Bowen's theory. These findings affirm the value of attachment behaviors and differentiation of self in adulthood, challenge therapists' bias against attachment behaviors of women, and provide a focus for mental health promotion among women.