Question that applies to all articles

What are some factors that influence young adult intimacy?

Beyers, W., & Seiffge-Krenke, I. (2010). Does Identity Precede Intimacy? Testing Erikson’s Theory on Romantic Development in Emerging Adults of the 21st Century. Journal of Adolescent Research. 25(3): 387–415.

Erikson stated that healthy identity development during adolescence is a precursor of intimacy in romantic relationships during emerging adulthood. However, from a developmental contextual perspective, there are reasons to question this strict developmental ordering. Using interview and questionnaire data from a longitudinal study on 93 adolescents, the authors tested whether ego development in middle adolescence predicts intimacy in emerging adulthood. Second, the authors examined whether identity achievement at the transition to adulthood mediates this link. Results revealed direct links between early ego development (age 15) and intimacy in romantic relationships (age 25). No paths were found from earlier intimacy to later ego development. No gender differences occurred. Relational identity achievement, an integrative identity construct measured at age 24, fully mediated the association between earlier ego development and later intimacy. This study confirms Erikson’s old ideas on the developmental ordering of identity and intimacy for youngsters in the 21st century. Moreover, it highlights the integrative function of relational identity for later mature intimacy.

• In what ways does research support the importance of developing a healthy identity to forming intimacy in relationships as adults?

You, H. S., & Malley-Morrison, K. (2000). Young Adult Attachment Styles and Intimate Relationships With Close Friends: A Cross-Cultural Study of Koreans and Caucasian Americans. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psychology. 31(4): 528-534.

The contribution of attachment styles to social intimacy and expectations of friends was investigated in Caucasian American and Korean young adults. Koreans scored higher on preoccupied attachment, lower on intimacy, and lower on friendship expectations. In regression analyses, secure attachment contributed positively and dismissive attachment contributed negatively to intimacy and positive expectations; culture added significantly to the equations, with Korean students reporting less intimate relationships with friends and more negative expectations than Caucasian Americans.

• What differences are there between Caucasian Americans and Korean young adults regarding attachment styles?
• What differences are there between Caucasian American and Korean young adults regarding intimacy and expectations of friends?

Koroboy, N., & Thorne, A. (2006). Intimacy and Distancing: Young Men’s Conversations About Romantic Relationships. Journal of Adolescent Research, 21(1): 27-55.

This study examined how 32 pairs of 19-to 22-year-oldEuro-American male friends constructed intimacy when telling romantic-relationship stories in casual conversations. Analyses centered on the emergence of two types of conversational positions: intimate positions and distancing positions. Intimate positions constructed young men as warm, caring, and emotionally vulnerable; distancing positions functioned to diminish intimacy, care, and vulnerability. Although intimate positions were present, they did not arise in a straightforward or unmarked way. Instead, intimate positions were often eclipsed or supplanted by distancing positions. The findings provide a conversationally nuanced understanding of how young men practice intimacy by constructing themselves as moving both toward and away from close relationships with women. For emerging adult males, we suggest that such shifting positions can help to develop a clearer sense of what one wants, and does not want, in a love relationship.

• What differences might you expect if this study included young women, rather than young men?

Hope, N. H., Milyavskava, M., Holding, A. C., & Koestner, R. (2013). Self-Growth in the College Years: Increased Importance of Intrinsic Value Predicts Resolution of Identity and Intimacy Stages. Social Psychological and Personality Science. 5(6): 705-712.

Could a shift in values over time drive resolution of identity and intimacy in young adulthood? In the present study, we found support for our hypothesis that increased prioritization of intrinsic values over an academic year predicts university students’ resolution of the Eriksonian stages of identity and intimacy, and that stage resolution would mediate the relationship between value change and enhanced well-being. Among the 196 students followed from September to April, we found that increased prioritization of intrinsic relative to extrinsic values over the year related to greater resolution of both identity and intimacy, controlling for stage resolution at T1, and that increased resolution positively predicted enhanced subjective well-being and psychological well-being over time.

• What contextual and social factors may play a unique role for the college students in this Erikson stage?