The Influence of Separation from the Mother on Children's Emotional Responses

This study concerns the relationship between alienation and the identity and role crisis in late adolescence. Two hundred and ninety adolescents (18-21 years) divided into age/sex and vocational role commitment groups were given the DJ Scale of Alienation: Self-Social Satisfaction (6). Two indexes were obtained: (a) Alienation (measured by Powerlessness and Self-Abasement) and (b) Self-Dissatisfaction (a measure of psychological disequilibrium). Powerlessness and Self-Abasement were not age/sex differentiated, whereas dissatisfaction-with-self for these attitudes was related to group differences. Young males were self-dissatisfied with their powerless status, and young females with their self-abasing attitudes. Findings were discussed in terms of the resolution of the psychological crisis and the end of the adolescent moratorium.