The development of the individuation process from a social‐cognitive perspective

Abstract

A sequence of four developmental levels for the individuation process, from a social-cognitive perspective, was proposed from late childhood to late adolescence. Individuation is defined as the separation of the self from family. The individuation interview, Selman's self-awareness measure and the Lunzer test were administered in 4th, 7th, 10th grades and a post-high school group (N = 78). Results confirmed age increases in individuation as follows: late childhood subjects consolidate on level I, exhibiting the dominance of parental view over individual perspectives; early adolescents on level 2, demonstrating an increased self-awareness and the beginning decline of parental view; mid-adolescents, on level 3, characterized by conflicts between the recognition of the autonomous self and the parental views; and late adolescents (young adults) on level 3 and level 4, showing the ability to integrate the parental view within the self-system without losing individuality. Further, construct validation confirmed the common as well as the discriminant qualities of the individuation sequence to self-awareness and Piagetian logical development. These results support the uniqueness of the individuation construct within the social-cognitive domain.