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Do securely and insecurely attached children derive well‐being from different forms of gender identity?
Author(s) -
Me Meenakshi,
Me Madhavi,
Cooper Patrick J.,
Pauletti Rachel E.,
Tobin Desiree D.,
Spatta Brooke C.,
Hafen Christopher A.,
Peets Kätlin,
Hodges Ernest V. E.,
Perry David G.
Publication year - 2017
Publication title -
social development
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.078
H-Index - 91
eISSN - 1467-9507
pISSN - 0961-205X
DOI - 10.1111/sode.12191
Subject(s) - psychology , conformity , feeling , developmental psychology , identity (music) , distress , well being , emotional security , gender identity , social psychology , clinical psychology , physics , acoustics , psychotherapist
We examined whether attachment security moderates influences of two gender identity variables—felt gender typicality and felt pressure for gender differentiation—on preadolescents' well‐being. We tested two hypotheses. The first was that attachment security protects children from the distress that can stem from feeling gender atypical or from feeling pressure for gender conformity. The second was that secure children derive well‐being from believing they are similar to same‐gender peers whereas insecure children derive well‐being from believing it important to be different from other‐gender peers. We assessed children's attachment security, gender identity, and well‐being (self‐esteem, internalizing problems) in two successive years (N = 211, M initial age = 10.1 years). Results supported the second hypothesis. Attachment security may govern children's contingencies of well‐being.