1. Longwood University, Virginia, U.S.A.
Patterns of Individuation, Emotional Responsiveness, and Differentiation of Self in Emerging Adulthood
Chris A. Bjornsen
Longwood University, Virginia, U.S.A.
Bjornsen, C. A. (2011, July). Patterns of Individuation, Emotional Responsiveness, and Differentiation of Self in Emerging Adulthood. In M. Zupančič (Chair), Young People’s Perceptions and Experiences of Emerging Adulthood in Different Countries. Symposium conducted at the 12th European Congress of Psychology, Istanbul, Turkey.

2.  Abstract
The development of a sense of individuation or autonomy is a key component of the maturation process during emerging adulthood, and should facilitate the establishment of more mature relationships with peers, including romantic relationships. Further, it is plausible to consider that basic emotional tendencies may affect the process of individuation as well as the establishment of romantic relationships. In the present study, 287 young adults aged completed a questionnaire that included measures of individuation, differentiation of self, personality traits, and emotional responsiveness. Results indicated that males with a romantic partner scored higher on individuation and differentiation of self, and lower on neuroticism and openness. Females with a romantic partner scored higher on strength and length of emotional responsiveness, and to a certain degree lower on individuation. Further analyses will focus on changes across ages.

3. Methods and Participants
287 participants (68 male, 219 female, mean age = 19.6) – 17-25
213 item questionnaire
Administered individually online (SurveyMonkey.com)

4. Measures Peter Blos – Individuation
Munich Individuation Test of Adolescence (MITA) - Sabine Walper (1997)
Murray Bowen - Differentiation of Self
Differentiation of Self Inventory (DSI) - Elizabeth Skowron (1998)
Big Five Theory of Personality (extraversion, agreeableness, conscientiousness, openness to experience, and neuroticism)
NEO-FFI - Costa & McCrae (1992)
Emotional Responsiveness - speed, strength, breadth, and length of emotional reactions
Emotional Response Inventory (ERI) – Bjornsen (revised 2010)

5. MITA subscales Higher individuation
Successful Individuation (integration of closeness with parents and personal autonomy)
Support Seeking (need for support and help from parent and closeness with him/her)
Lower individuation
Denial of Attachment Needs (denial of need for support and help from parent, expression of self-sufficiency)
Ambivalence (having attachment needs without expectation these needs will be fulfilled)
Fear of Love Withdrawal (fear that adolescent behavior or failure would lead to loss of parental love)
Engulfment Anxiety (fear of over control and emotional intrusion of parent)

6. DSI - 46-item measure – subscales:
Emotional Reactivity – ability to remain calm in response to the emotionality of others
I-Position – ability to maintain a clearly defined sense of self and thoughtfully adhere to personal convictions when pressured by others to do otherwise
Emotional Cutoff - person is not threatened by intimacy and does not feel excessive vulnerability in relationships with others
Fusion with Others - person is not emotionally over-involved with others, and does not triangulate and over-identify with parents
High scores = higher differentiation of self

7. The NEO FFI - 60-item version of the NEO PI-R
Neuroticism (tendency to experience fear, sadness, embarrassment, anger, guilt, and disgust)
Extraversion (sociability, social activity level, social assertiveness, need for excitement and stimulation)
Openness to Experience (imagination, aestheticism, intellectual curiosity, independence of judgment)
Agreeableness (altruism, sympathy toward others, eagerness to help others)
Conscientiousness (impulse control, management of desires, organization, task completion)

8. Emotional Response Inventory (Revised) 24 total items
4 dimensions – 6 items each
Speed – how quickly emotions are felt
Strength – how strongly emotions are felt
Breadth – how many emotions are felt at once
Length – how long emotions tend to persist
12 items – feelings prompted by actions of others
12 items – feelings prompted by self actions
8 items each for happy, sad, angry
Cronbach’s alpha
All participants – all items - .78
Females – all items - .78
Males - all items - .71

9. Speed of Emotional Response
1. When someone does something that makes me feel happy,
6. When someone does something that makes me feel sad,
11. When someone does something that makes me feel angry,
16. When I do something that makes me feel happy,
21. When I do something that makes me feel sad,
26. When I do something that makes me feel angry,
1. It usually takes me a long time to recognize how I feel
2. It usually takes a little while before I am aware of how I feel
3. I’m usually aware of how I feel pretty quickly
4. I am always immediately aware of how I feel
Cronbach’s alpha
All participants – all items - .73
Females – all items - .74
Males - all items - .68

10. bjornsenca@longwood.edu Strength of Emotional Response
2. When someone does something that makes me feel happy, that feeling is usually:
7. When someone does something that makes me feel sad, that feeling is usually:
12. When someone does something that makes me feel angry, that feeling is usually:
17. When I do something that makes me feel happy, that feeling is usually:
22. When I do something that makes me feel sad, that feeling is usually:
27. When I do something that makes me feel angry, that feeling is usually:
1. Very weak, hardly noticeable
2. Not very strong
3. Quite strong
4. Intense
Cronbach’s alpha
All participants – all items - .69
Females – all items - .70
Males - all items - .60

11. bjornsenca@longwood.edu Breadth of Emotional Response
3. When someone does something that makes me feel happy, I:
8. When someone does something that makes me feel sad, I:
13. When someone does something that makes me feel angry, I:
18. When I do something that makes me feel happy, I:
23. When I do something that makes me feel sad, I:
28. When I do something that makes me feel angry, I:
1. tend to feel the same way every time
2. tend to feel a little different each time
3. tend to feel a couple of different feelings at once
4. tend to experience many different feelings at the same time
Cronbach’s alpha
All participants – all items - .76
Females – all items - .76
Males - all items - .76

12. bjornsenca@longwood.edu Length of Emotional Response
4. When someone does something that makes me feel happy, that feeling tends to last:
9. When someone does something that makes me feel sad, that feeling tends to last:
14. When someone does something that makes me feel angry, that feeling tends to last:
19. When I do something that makes me feel happy, that feeling tends to last:
24. When I do something that makes me feel sad, that feeling tends to last:
29. When I do something that makes me feel angry, that feeling tends to last:
1. Very briefly
2. For a short period of time
3. For quite a while
4. For a very long time
Cronbach’s alpha
All participants – all items - .56
Females – all items - .53
Males - all items -.55

13. Independent samples t-test:
Females reported significantly higher scores than males for
ERI
Strength (Female x̄ = 2.93, Male x̄ = 2.72, t(285) = 4.26, p. < .001)
Length (Fx̄ = 2.70, Mx̄ = 2.52, t(285) = 3.60, p. < .001)
MITA
Successful individuation in relation to mothers (Fx̄ = 3.30, Mx̄ = 3.09, t(285) = 2.62, p. < .01)
Support seeking with mothers (Fx̄ = 2.07, Mx̄ = 1.74, t(285) = 4.09, p. < .000)
Support seeking with fathers (Fx̄ = 2.07, Mx̄ = 1.87, t(285) = 2.22, p. < .05)
NEO
Agreeableness (Fx̄ = 32.47, Mx̄ = 28.79, t(285) = 4.39, p. < .000)
Conscientiousness (Fx̄ = 32.37, Mx̄ = 27.83, t(285) = 5.04, p. < .000)
Females “more” emotional than males; more mature relationship with mothers, stronger need for support from mothers and fathers

14. Males reported significantly higher scores than females for
Emotional reactivity (Mx̄ = 3.86, Fx̄ = 3.30, t(285) = 4.23, p. < .000)
I-position (Mx̄ = 4.18, Fx̄ = 3.92, t(285) = 2.34, p. < .05)
Differentiation of Self Total (Mx̄ = 4.05, Fx̄ = 3.87, t(285) = 2.32, p. < .05)
MITA
Denial of attachment needs with mothers (Mx̄ = 1.91, Fx̄ = 1.64, t(285) = 3.82, p. < .000)
Males had higher differentiation of self, greater distance from mother

15. 36 males did and 32 males did not have a romantic partner at the time of measurement.
Males with a partner (P) scored significantly higher than males with no partner (NP) on
MITA Father Successful Individuation (Px̄ = 3.23, NPx̄ = 2.87, t(66) = 2.05, p. < .05)
DSI Total (Px̄ = 4.19, NPx̄ = 3.89, t(66) = 2.44, p. < .05)
I-Position (Px̄ = 4.40, NPx̄ = 3.93, t(66) = 2.59, p. < .05)
Males with no partner scored significantly higher on
Neuroticism (NPx̄ = 25.71, Px̄ = 19.63, t(66) = 3.20, p. < .01)
Males with a partner were healthier, higher differentiation of self
Age differences – older males scored higher on
Fusion r=.325 p.<.01
Openness r = .284 p.<.05
Agreeableness r = p.<.01
Older males were more “independent,” more open, more agreeable

16. 125 females did have a romantic partner and 94 did not (NP) at time of measurement
Females with a partner (P) scored significantly higher than females with no partner (NP) on
ERI Strength (Px̄ = 2.99, NPx̄ = 2.84, t(217) = 3.28, p. < .001)
ERI Length (Px̄ = 2.75, NPx̄ = 2.63, t(217) = 2.60, p. < .01)
MITA Mother Ambivalence (Px̄ = 1.40, NPx̄ = 1.24, t(217) = 2.70, p. < .01)
Females with partner “more” emotional, felt more ambivalence with mother
Age differences – younger females scored higher on
MITA Mother Fear of Love Withdrawal r = -.15 p.<.05 (younger females had higher levels of fear of love withdrawal)
MITA Father Fear of Love Withdrawal r = -.13 p.<.05 (younger females had higher levels of fear of love withdrawal)
Younger females experienced more fear of love withdrawal with mother and father

17. Are speed, strength, breadth, and length of emotions related to differentiation of self, individuation?

18. Males - Relations between Emotional Reactivity and Differentiation of Self, Individuation
Forward Regression analyses – IVs (ERI Speed, Strength, Breadth, Length), DVs (DSI scales, MITA scales). Criterion p. <= .05
8 of the DVs were significantly predicted by ERI scales.
ERI Speed (R2 = .05) positively associated with DSI I-Position
ERI Speed (R2 = .09) positively associated with DSI Emotional Cutoff
ERI Strength (R2 = .09) negatively associated, Breadth (R2 = .17) positively associated, and Speed (R2 = .09) negatively associated with MITA Father Fear of Love Withdrawal
ERI Strength (R2 = .22) negatively associated with DSI Emotional Reactivity
ERI Breadth (R2 = .14) and Strength (R2 = .22) positively associated with MITA Mother Engulfment Anxiety
ERI Breadth (R2 = .05) positively associated with MITA Father Support Seeking
ERI Length (R2 = .09) negatively associated with DSI Total
ERI Length (R2 = .06) positively associated with MITA Father Ambivalence

19. Females - Relations between Emotional Reactivity and Differentiation of Self, Individuation
Forward Regression analyses – IVs (ERI Speed, Strength, Breadth, Length), DVs (DSI scales, MITA scales) Criterion p. <= .05
11 of the DVs were predicted by ERI scales
ERI Speed (R2 = .04) positively associated with MITA Father Successful Individuation
ERI Speed (R2 = .04) negatively associated with MITA Father Denial of Attachment Needs
ERI Speed (R2 = .03) positively associated with MITA Father Support Seeking
ERI Speed (R2 = .03) negatively associated with, and ERI Strength (R2 = .05) positively associated with MITA Father Engulfment Anxiety
ERI Speed (R2 = .06) positively associated with, and ERI Strength (R2 = .15) negatively associated with DSI Total
ERI Speed (R2 = .06) was positively associated with, and ERI Strength (R2 = .10) was negatively associated with I-Position
ERI Speed (R2 = .04) was positively associated with Emotional Cutoff

20. ERI Strength (R2 = .09) negatively associated with, and ERI Speed (R2 = .15) positively associated with Emotional Reactivity
ERI Strength (R2 = .02) positively associated with MITA Mother Ambivalence
ERI Length (R2 = .04) was negatively associated with, and ERI Speed (R2 = .08) was positively associated with Fusion
ERI Length (R2 = .03) positively associated with MITA Mother Fear of Love Withdrawal

21. ERI Speed – Summary of Regression Analyses
Males: Faster emotions associated with positive traits:
I-Position - ability to maintain a clearly defined sense of self in relationships (DSI)
Higher Emotional Cutoff - not feeling excessive vulnerability in relationships (DSI)
less fear of love withdrawal by father (MITA)

22. Females: Faster emotions were associated with positive traits:
successful individuation from father (MITA)
less denial of attachment - denial of need for support and help from father (MITA)
lower fear of father engulfment (MITA)
Higher support seeking with father (MITA)
higher overall differentiation of self (DSI)
Higher Fusion - not being emotionally over-involved with others, and not triangulating and over-identifying with parents (DSI)
higher Emotional Reactivity - ability to remain calm in response to the emotionality of others (DSI)
higher I-Position - ability to maintain a sense of self and adhere to personal convictions (DSI)
not feeling threatened by intimacy (DSI)

23. ERI Strength – Summary of Regression Analyses
Males: Stronger emotions associated with more negative traits:
lower emotional reactivity - ability to remain calm in relationships
greater fear of engulfment with mother
but less fear of love withdrawal by father
Females: Stronger emotions associated with negative traits:
feeling ambivalent about mother’s love
greater fear of father engulfment
lower overall differentiation of self
lower emotional reactivity - ability to remain calm in response to the emotionality of others
lower I-Position - ability to maintain a sense of self and adhere to personal convictions

24. ERI Breadth – Summary of Regression Analyses
Males: Broader range of emotions associated with negative traits:
greater fear of engulfment with mother
more fear of love withdrawal by father
Higher seeking more support from father
No relations for females

25. ERI Length – Summary of Regression Analyses
Males: Longer emotions associated with negative traits:
lower overall differentiation of self
Higher father ambivalence - weaker expectation that security needs will be met by father
Females: Longer emotions were associated with negative traits: 
Higher Fusion - being over-involved with others, and triangulating and over-identifying with parents
fear that Mother’s love would be withdrawn.

26. Results summary - Females
More mature relationship with mothers, stronger need for support from mothers and fathers (positive)
Those with a partner felt stronger, longer emotions and were less secure with mother (not positive)
Younger women experienced more fear of love withdrawal with mother and father (expected)
Stronger, longer emotions than males (not positive)
Faster emotions were associated with positive traits
Stronger and longer emotions associated with negative traits

27. Results summary - Males
Higher differentiation of self, greater distance from mother (positive)
Those with a partner were less neurotic, had higher differentiation of self (positive)
Older males were less fused, more open, more agreeable (positive)
Faster emotions associated with positive traits
Stronger, broader and longer emotions associated with negative traits

28. General interpretation
Individuation and differentiation of self can both be characterized, at least in part, as gaining control over one’s emotions in relations with significant others.
These data suggest that quick recognition of one’s feelings, rather than responding strongly, broadly, or for a long time, is related to greater maturity