Department of Educational Psychology

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Browsing Department of Educational Psychology by Author "Adams, Quinton N. P."

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    Die verband tussen adolessente se persepsies van gesinsfunksionering en hulle identiteitsontwikkeling
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2002-12) Adams, Quinton N. P.; Ackermann, C. J.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Educational Psychology.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The adolescent's efforts to discover and create an identity are the most important task of this period of life. Identity formation can be regarded as a central developmental task during adolescence. For Erikson (1968) adolescence is marked by the need to resolve the crises of identity vs role confusion. The child cannot be seen in isolation from his system, especially the family in which he/she functions. The adolescent's identity and how he/she respond to the teenage years and development to adulthood is influenced by what happens in the family. The aim of the study is to investigate the relationship between the adolescent's perception of family functioning and identity development. The target group was Grade 12 (163) pupils from 3 secondary schools within Circuit 1 in the Bellville region in Cape Town. Two instruments were used, The Extended Objective Measure óf Ego Identity Status (EOM-EIS-2) (Adams,1999; Bennion and Adams,1986) and the Family Functioning in Adolescence Questionnaire (FFAQ) (Langey,1994). The EOMEIS- 2 is a self administered questionnaire. The 64-item instrument is an extension of Marcia's identity status paradigm and assesses psychosocial maturity with regard to oocupational, religious, political, and social dimensions of identity development. The FFAQ is developed to provide an instrument for assessing the psychosocial health of the family during the stage of having adolescent children, as perceived by the adolescent. It examines six dimensions of family functioning: structure, affect, communication, behaviour control, value transmission and external systems. In view of the results reported the most important findings can be summarized as follows: Identity diffusion shows a significant negative correlation with various dimensions of family functioning, including affective interaction in the family, communication, behavior control, the transmission of values, and the role of external systems in family life. This finding partly applies to three of the four subgroups, with the Afrikaans-speaking males the only exception. Among the English-speaking subgroup (males and females) the identity achievement status shows a significant positive correlation with communication and with the transmission of values in the family. Among the Afrikaans-speaking subgroup (males and females) the identity foreclosure status shows a significant positive correlation with communication, behavior control, the transmission of values, and the role of external systems in family life. Various important implications for education were pointed out.