Among late adolescent males, parental divorce was highly related to Emotional separation as a home-leaving indicator; for females, being a firstborn was associated with Personal Control as a home-leaving indicator. These findings supported previous research indicating that males experience more adjustment problems after parental divorce than…

Provides a foundation for future experimental research on the origins in mother-infant interaction of sex differences in the development of a separate sense of self. Suggests that sex differences in the experience of a separate sense of self begin to emerge in early infancy and that mothers engage in different types of contact with sons and…

Examined similarities and differences in like-sex and unlike-sex parent-adolescent modeling. Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventories were administered to 59 emotionally disturbed adolescents and their mothers. Results showed that the mother-daughter profiles were very similar but the mother-son profiles were dissimilar. The mother-daughter…

Evaluated gender differences in infant and maternal emotional expressivity and regulation with 6-month-old infants and their mothers, using Tronick's face-to-face still-face model. Found that maternal affect, matching, rate of change between matching and mismatching states, and synchrony in the play preceding the still face differentially mediated…

An experiment was conducted to test the theory that young boys prefer the companionship of their fathers in play activities to that of their mothers, while young girls have no particular preference. It was hypothesized that a boy has this preference because he has been cared for primarily by his mother, and his discovery of sex-identity leaves him…

The authors discuss several studies which invalidate the common presumption that fathers play an insignificant role in the sociopersonality development of their infant children. It is shown that fathers are extremely salient individuals in the lives of their children, particularly their sons. (Author)

The portable rod-and-frame test was used to measure the level of psychological differentation for 100 behavior-problem, father-absent children, ages 8-16. A significant interaction was noted between the reason for the father's absence (death vs divorce/desertion) and the child's age when the father left home. (Author/SJL)

Discusses implications of recent evidence for genetic influences on personality development and psychopathology. Presents a model of the childhood origins of psychopathology that incorporates genetics and gives special emphasis to the role of parental conflict in the previously neglected middle childhood years. (Author/GC)

Father-absent and father-present seveth graders were compared on moral attributes and overt aggression. Some evidence suggests that some but not all of the effects of father absence are attributable to the lack of a paternal model. Effects may be mediated in part by changes in the mother's child-rearing pattern. (NH)

Results of this study indicate that female offspring develop personality types more congruent with their parental-pair type. Degrees of congruence between male offspring and their parents' personality types conform to chance expectation. (Author)

This article deals with the author's interpretation of the Freudian concept of penis envy. Penis envy is viewed as a psychological phenomenon rather than a biological phenomenon characterized as the "bedrock of feminity." Based on his experiences as a psychoanalyst, the author states that penis envy involves the child's early…

This brief report summarizes the findings and conclusions of studies concerning the relation between birth order and various aspects of personality and intellectual development. Major topics discussed are the relation between birth order of the child and: (1) the effects of sex and spacing between siblings on personality characteristics of the…

This paper discusses the processes that are at work which produce some of the differences between male and female human beings. The sex of the child is an important attribute of the organism's identity. Before birth, parents express preferences for the sex of the unborn child and start providing names as a function of the sex of the child. Studies…

Developed a model of individuation in family relationships focused on communicative processes. Expressions of four dimensions of the model (self-esteem, separateness, permeability, and mutuality) were predicted to be positively associated with identity exploration in adolescents. Analysis of observations of families in a Family Interaction Task…

The manner in which the traditional way of life and the traditional rituals of the Zaramo of Tanzania affect the personality development of Zaramo children and individuals in general was the focus of this preliminary study for an envisioned longitudinal program of research. Data was gathered during 1970 and 1974 in a typical traditional rural…