The Me I Know: A Study of Adult Identity

ISBN-13: 9780387962610 / Angielski / Miękka / 1998 / 264 str.

Susan Krauss Whitbourne; Susan Krauss Whitbourne

Opis

For the last 5 years I have been living with 94 adults. These 94 adults made up the sample of people in a study on adult development that Dale Dannefer and I began in 1980. This book represents my efforts to condense the almost 200 hours of tape-recorded material from the 94 adults into a form that captures at least some of the diversity and also some of the commonalities in their answers to the ques tion "Who am I?" My version of their answers is based on their reflections about themselves as family members, workers, and people with a goal in life. In arriv ing at the conclusion that adults attempt to see themselves as loved, competent, and good human beings, I believe that I have done justice to these people and their answers to my interview questions. Arriving at the point of being able to write about these 94 people's identities has not been an easy process. Countless attempts at numerically based rating systems were tried and discarded progressively, until finally I decided to read all the trans cripts in sequence, person by person rather than question by question. What I found when I approached them as total individuals was surprising to me. I found a vibrant theme of certainty and self-assuredness in their identities that flew in the face of my previous ideas about developmental change in adulthood."

Spis treści

I Adult Identity Processes.- 1 Who Am I?.- The Myth of the Mid-Life Crisis.- A Study of Adult Identity.- 2 A Theory of Adult Identity Processes.- Forms of Identity Assimilation and Accommodation.- Theoretical Implications.- II Family Identity.- 3 Love Is Not Enough.- The Importance of Closeness, Communication, and Companionship.- Family Tasks and Responsibility.- The Dual Nature of Family Identity.- 4 Men and Women in the Family.- Family Networks.- Centrality of the Family Identity.- Personal Fulfillment.- 5 Parents and Children.- The Family Life Cycle and Identity Accommodation.- Unpredictable Sources of Identity Accommodation in the Family.- III Work Identity: Intrinsic and Extrinsic Work Involvement.- 6 The Competent Worker.- The Importance of Interesting Work.- Autonomy.- Intellectual Nature of the Work.- Having the Chance to See Results.- The People-Work Character of a Job.- The Intrinsic Meaning of Work: Reflections and Qualifications.- 7 A Spoonful of Sugar.- The Monetary Rewards of Work.- The Conditions of Work: Creature Comforts and Convenience.- The People Factor.- 8 “Just a Housewife”.- The Work of the Homemaker.- The Importance of the Homemaker’s Work.- Finding Alternate Sources of Competence.- Reflections on the Homemaker’s Identity.- IV Integrative Themes.- 9 Family and Work Identities: Conflict or Compatibility?.- Sources of Conflict Between Family and Work Identities.- Compatibility Between Family and Work Identities.- The Conflict and Compatibility Models: Implications for Identity.- 10 Purpose in Life.- Honesty—A Word Often Heard.- Values in Interpersonal Relationships.- Values: Summing Up.- Appendix A Adult Identity Process Interview.- Appendix B Methodology of the Adult Identity Process Study.- Appendix C Categories of Interview Statements.- References.