| This study explored the possible impact and manifestations of loss by parental divorce, such as attitudes toward self power, intimacy and the subsequent peer re-attachment efforts on the part of young people from divorced families in the context of interpersonal relationships. Some ratings of self perception were examined as well as perceptions of their parents' relationships. The subjects, divided into a group with married parents (N = 31) and a group with divorced parents (N = 21), were college students aged 18 and 24. The methods used to collect data were three self reporting instruments, The Self Power Attitude Scale, The Intimacy Attitude Scale, and the Interpersonal Relationship Attitude Scale, for all respondents and a structured interview for a subsample of 12. Statistical analysis was performed utilizing Pearson Product Moment correlations and one way analysis of variance. No significant differences were found between the groups from divorced and non divorced families in their attitudes toward self power, intimacy or interpersonal relationships. The same methods of analysis, Pearson Product Moment correlations and one way analysis of variance, were also performed on the following variables: sex, age, education, satisfactory relationships, personality style, liking self, knowing self, knowing partner, intimacy, length of relationship, stability of relationship, quality of relationship, type of relationship, whether parents were at home daily, and rating of parent relationship. The first five variables were rated on five point Likert type scales. One significant finding was that the "divorced" group reported liking themselves less, and close to significant was the finding that persons from married families tended to report knowing themselves better. The divorced group reported having fewer satisfactory relationships, of lesser quality than the married group. Persons with married parents viewed their parents' relationship at a significantly higher level than did the group from divorced families. The interviews substantiated the quantitative data. |
