Browsing by Author "Lanter, Joyce C."

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    Ego identity development in black college students: the effects of self-esteem, ethnic identity and family environment
    Turner, William L. (Virginia Tech, 1990)
    Ego identity formation in African American college students was examined within the frameworks of Erikson’s psychosocial theory and Hill’s paradigm of Black family strengths. Ego identity was measured by the Revised Version of the Extended Objective Measure of Ego Identity Status, an instrument based on the theoretical constructs of Erikson. Family strengths were measured by the Family Environment Scale and the personality variables self-esteem and ethnic identity were measured by the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale and the Multigroup Ethnic Identity Measure, respectively. It was hypothesized that statistically significant relationships would be found between ego identity and the family environmental and personality variables. One hundred sixty-nine African American college students attending a predominantly White university participated in the study. The results supported a relationship between ego identity and family environmental and personality variables. The study further revealed that personality variables contribute more significantly than family environmental variables to identity achievement. Self-esteem was found to be a Significant predictor of ego identity and differentiated among the four ego identity statuses, Ethnic identity also proved to contribute significantly to the ego formation of African Americans. Of the family variables, religious-orientation, cohesion and organization were found to be significant predictors for some but not all of the ego statuses. Both father’s education and family income were Significant predictors of ego identity status, but age and sex were found to be nonsignificant in predicting ego identity.
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    The evolution of family myths: a qualitative analysis of mid- life married men
    Grogan, John Webster (Virginia Tech, 1990-05-05)
    This exploratory study examined the nature of family myths as perceived by mid-life married men. Of particular interest was inquiry into the origin of family mythology and the transmission process of myths as perceived by men. The most pervasive themes were found around "relations with father." These themes were indicated in a two-fold typology of "father is absent" and "father is present." The findings from this research present evidence of family myths originating in the family of origin experiences and evolving into contemporary mythology related to conflict management, marital relations, and career roles. Discussion of methodological issues, as well as implications for future research and clinical interventions are presented.
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    Relationship satisfaction between elderly mothers and their adult children
    Lanter, Joyce C. (Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, 1986)
    The perceived satisfaction derived in the relationship between elderly mothers and their middle-aged children was examined by interviewing both mothers and children. Satisfaction with the relationship was found to be correlated with the following relationship characteristics: (1) degree of sentiment perceived, experienced and expressed toward each other (affection); (2) quality of the face-to-face interactions with one another (association); and (3) each person's view of the level of agreement in values, opinions and attitudes shared with each other (consensus). Mothers and children responded similarly with regard to the dimensions of affection, and consensus in that increased affection and consensus was positively associated with levels of satisfaction experienced in the relationship. Mothers and children also reported that the quality of association was important, although the two groups responded differently to this relationship characteristic. The degree to which children gained satisfaction from the relationship was positively correlated with the perceived quality of the face-to-face interaction, while the quality of these interactions was much less important in the sample of mothers. None of the demographic variables (socioeconomic status, child gender, residential proximity); quality of life variables (vigor, life events, environmental satisfaction); or marital variables (marital adjustment, marriage length) were found to affect relationship satisfaction between elderly mothers and their children. This research suggests that there is a class of relationship characteristics which includes affection, association and consensus that affects relationship satisfaction. Furthermore this class of characteristics appears to be exclusive and unaffected by specific demographic, quality of life and marital variables.