SEX-DIFFERENCES IN IDENTITY AND INTIMACY DEVELOPMENT IN COLLEGE YOUTH

This study examined sex differences in the processes of identity and intimacy development among college youth. Fifty males, and 50 females were given measures of identity status, intimacy status, and self-esteem. Males were found to focus on intrapersonal aspects of identity status, intimacy status, and self-esteem. Males were found to focus on intrapersonal aspects of identity, females on interpersonal aspects. The pursuit of various identity development pathways affected self-esteem differentially for the two sexes. More females than males were found to be intimate and the achievement of intimacy seemed more closely related to identity in males than in females. The findins were interpreted in the context of Eriksonian theory, which seemed more adequate in explaining male than female development. © 1979 Plenum Publishing Corporation.