Abstract

Humans innately feel a desire for connection, but in its pursuit, some may inadvertently thwart the very connection they seek. One way this may happen is through forsaking a sense of autonomy in favor of relatedness using behaviors such as self- silencing (stifling the self to preserve a relationship) and emotional fusion (relying on validation from others). To better understand how these four variables—autonomy, relatedness, self-silencing and emotional fusion—function together, I used latent profile analysis to identify classes among US adults in long-term relationships (n = 1065). Separate classes were identified for men and women. I then used the Bolck-Croon-Hagenaars method to predict class membership using variables such as demographics, attachment styles, relational connection, depressive symptoms, and gender roles and ideologies. Results indicated four latent groups for women (stifled-59%, detached-29%, moderate-9%, and differentiated-3%) and four for men (stifled-33%, detached-50%, imbalanced-11%, and differentiated-6%). In all classes, autonomy and relatedness balanced each other out such that if autonomy was deficient, relatedness was also low. In most classes, autonomy and relatedness were inversely associated with self-silencing and emotional fusion so that those with high autonomy and relatedness were less likely to self-silence or engage in emotional fusion. Those with high autonomy and relatedness were also less likely to adhere to traditional gender roles and ideologies, less likely to experience depressive symptoms, less likely to be anxiously or avoidantly attached, and more likely to experience relational connection.

Degree

PhD

College and Department

Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Family Life

Rights

https://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/

Date Submitted

2023-11-27

Document Type

Dissertation

Handle

http://hdl.lib.byu.edu/1877/etd13013

Keywords

autonomy, self-silencing, emotional fusion, self-determination theory

Language

english

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