THE IMPACT OF FAMILY FUNCTION ON IDENTITY FORMATION DURING EMERGING ADULTHOOD

Family communication plays a pivotal role in many facets of an individual’s life development. The aim of this study was to examine the effects of family communication and functioning as a predictors of identity formation during emerging adulthood. An online survey was used to assess components of Olson’s Circumplex Model of Family Functioning as well as reported identity formation. Data was collected from 117 emerging adults. The final data revealed that more balanced cohesive and adaptive families were not significantly predictive of healthy identity formation, but certain extreme levels were predictive of low identification with commitments and high ruminative exploration. Discussion highlights the importance of understanding established family functions and their potential impact for personal development in conjunction with environmental and temporal factors.

Grantor dc:publisher

Wake Forest University

Year dc:date.issued

2017

Author dc:creator

• Wallace, Brenna

• Emerging Adulthood

Language dc:language.iso

en

Handle dc:identifier.uri

http://hdl.handle.net/10339/82195

OAI identifier oai:identifier

oai:wakespace.lib.wfu.edu:10339/82195