Study conducted with college-age women to determine the relationship between absence of father in childhood and adult self-concept and interpersonal relationships with men. Results suggest that father absence is not a factor differentially associated with the self-concept of women except in evaluation of self in social situations. (Author/JLF)

This paper lists four interdependent family characteristics, and argues that they have been distinguishing features of the Western family for several centuries. They are: family membership, mother's age during childbearing, spouse age difference, and presence of other people. Their interrelationships and possible importance in personality…

Theories and models of adult development over the life span provide one of the foundational pieces for gaining a clearer understandings of learning in adulthood. Only recently have adult educators spoken more forcefully about the lack of integrated research on adult women. The purpose of this monograph is to describe those missing female voices as…

A literature review uncovered three themes on women's psychosocial development: diverse and nonlinear patterns, importance of intimacy and identity, and centrality of relationships and connectedness to others. The review assessed the applicability of existing developmental models to women and identified alternative designs and methods needed to…

This study was designed to investigate aspects of childhood social functioning in early interaction and socialization patterns of normal families. Sixteen families with a child between 1 and 3 years of age, and a second child born when the study began, were observed over a 2-year period. Intelligence tests were administered to both children when…

The purposes of this paper are: (1) to identify uses of the term social competence for preschool and early school children, with origins directly in research, and (2) to formulate a definition of social competence reflecting consensus across three different research perspectives. From an ethnological perspective, social competence consists of…

This research investigated the relationship between ego development and social network structure in grades 9 through 12 in a private school. Students filled out a sentence completion test for ego development and named friends with whom they spent the most time in school on a sociometric questionnaire. Popularity, mutuality in dyads, and choices…

A selective review of the literature on the socialization effect of games uncovers a varied and increasing number of hypotheses, but only little and scattered evidence. Direct studies of play and game functions are primarily in uncontrolled clinical reports. Therefore, a pilot study was conducted as a preliminary attempt to establish correlational…

The first in a series of related reports (see TM 000 775), this paper attempts to define a concept of psychosocial maturity which would be appropriate as a comprehensive educational goal. Biological, sociological, psychological and temporal formulations of maturity are discussed and compared. Am interdisciplinary model of maturity is evolved which…

Intended for use by teachers on the junior high and high school levels, this curriculum guide, which is one in a series of guides for consumer and homemaking education in Kentucky, outlines four courses in the area of personal and family development. The seventh grade level unit discusses the influence of health habits on personal appearance and…