Individuation and relatedness: Not opposing but distinct and complementary

Imamoglu E.

GENETIC SOCIAL AND GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY MONOGRAPHS, vol.129, no.4, pp.367-402, 2003 (SSCI) identifier identifier identifier

  • Publication Type: Article / Article
  • Volume: 129 Issue: 4
  • Publication Date: 2003
  • Journal Name: GENETIC SOCIAL AND GENERAL PSYCHOLOGY MONOGRAPHS
  • Journal Indexes: Social Sciences Citation Index (SSCI), Scopus
  • Page Numbers: pp.367-402
  • Keywords: Balanced Integration-Differentiation model, family satisfaction, individuation, need for cognition, parental control, parental love-acceptance, relatedness, self-construals, self-satisfaction, ADULT ATTACHMENT STYLE, INTRINSIC MOTIVATION, PRESCHOOL-CHILDREN, SELF-DETERMINATION, COGNITION SCALE, NEED, AUTONOMY, COLLECTIVISM, BEHAVIOR, DIFFERENTIATION
  • Middle East Technical University Affiliated: No

Abstract

In this article, the author aims to contribute to a better understanding of the association between relational and individuational self-orientations and the roles they play in the self-system. The author highlights the controversial assumptions regarding the opposite or distinct nature of the orientations' association and explores how they relate to each other and to some self- and family-related variables by a questionnaire study. On the basis of the Balanced Integration-Differentiation model (E. O. Imamoglu, 1998), relatedness and individuation were hypothesized to refer to distinct and complementary self-orientations; the former was expected to be associated more with affect-related variables (i.e., perceived parental love-acceptance, self- and family satisfaction), whereas the latter was expected to be associated more with intrinsic-motivational variables (i.e., need for cognition and negatively with perceived parental control). University students (N = 274) from Turkey participated in the study. Results indicated that (a) individuation and relatedness were not negatively correlated; (b) perceived parental love-acceptance predicted relatedness both directly and indirectly through the mediation of self- and family satisfaction, whereas perceived parental control predicted (negatively) individuation indirectly through the mediation of need for cognition, a strong predictor of individuation; and (c) being both related and individuated appeared to be associated with optimal psychological functioning, the implications of which are discussed.