The hypothesis for this study was to determine if there is a relationship between participants from divorced families the fear of intimacy in relation to their ego identity status, compared to participants from continuously married families.  In fact, the results showed that there is a relationship between fear of intimacy and ego identity development.  There is also a close relationship between identity status, participant’s parent’s marital status, gender and the FIS score (f = .055).  No relationship was found between participant’s parent’s marital status and gender.  Now that the results have been determined, it is important to analyze the possible reasons for the findings.

            The Fear of Intimacy Scale, the results showed that males have a greater fear of intimacy.  This is a significant finding, especially because of the sample size of the male population.  In the study, there were 12 males and 51 females, yet males still reported a greater fear of intimacy.  Through the socialization of females in society, they are taught to be caring, sensitive, and trusting.  So, it then seems appropriate that females would have a less of a fear of intimacy than males who are not socialized in such a way.  It is also possible that females who come from families of divorced parents learn to trust their partners less and fear intimacy more.  The participants from divorced families scored 82.25 as a mean score on the FIS, whereas participants from continuously married families scored 72.34 on the FIS.  A participant from a divorced family may have experienced pain, as well as other negative feelings that may cause him, or her to have an increased fear of intimacy.  The increased fear of intimacy could also be due to a past relationship of his, or her own.  One could hypothesize that given a negative experience of divorce, that a person may not be open to intimate relationships.  I also question the population from which the sample was taken.

            All but one participant classified him, or herself as a Catholic.  Given the churches favoring of marital relationships, participants may overall have a greater fear of intimacy, because of the social and religious underpinnings of what intimacy may mean to the participants and their families.  Also, participants were asked if they believed that their parents stayed married for religious reasons.  Thirteen participants from the continuously married category responded, “yes” that they believed that their parents do stay together for religious reasons.  The belief that his, or her parents will stay together for religious reasons may relieve some of the fears related to intimacy.  Since religion is a fairly stable belief, participants who come from families of parents that stay together for religious reasons may not have a fear that their relationship, and/or their parent’s relationship will end for this reason. 

            Participants may have also had difficulty answering the questions of the FIS.  Although the FIS asks the participant to think of a hypothetical relationship and answer the questions as if he, or she was in a relationship with the hypothetical person, the participants may have answered the questions with a particular person that they have been in a relationship with, or are currently in a relationship with.  Depending on the intimacy in the relationship, with the person that he, or she may have envisioned, this may have altered the results.  If the participant was thinking of a boyfriend, or girlfriend that he, or she had a particularly intimate relationship with, this may have colored the participant’s perception of relationships, in general, as being in and having less fear about intimate relationships.  Conversely, if the participant is, or has been in a relationship that was particularly salient and has caused a fear of intimacy, the participant may have generalized this experience to the answers in general terms on the questionnaire.  There were also situational factors that may have altered some of the responses.

            While testing was being conducted, several of the participants received phone calls from their significant others.  They proceeded to have a conversation with the other person in the testing room, until they were asked to take their phone call in the hallway.  The mere fact that the participant was talked to a significant other on the phone could have cued the participant’s response to any particular question.  Individuals may also have been affected by the time of their parent’s divorce, if applicable.

            Participants were asked on the demographic questionnaires if their parents had divorced, “how long have they been divorced?” The responses ranged from 2 months to 19 years.  Depending on the length of time that the participant’s parents had been divorced, could have affected their recall of the situational factors involved in the divorce, altering their perception of the divorce and consequently the score on the FIS.  Developmentally, children do not remember as much information as adults, or even adolescents.  This means that a parental divorce could have been difficult, but because of the age of the participant at the time of the parental divorce, their feelings about the divorce may be more positive than reported by an older child.  Similarly, a participant’s thoughts, feelings, and perceptions may be negatively based on their memories and perceptions of direct experiences through parental of familial conflicts.  Although the severity of the participant’s parent’s divorce may have had a direct impact on the response to the FIS scores, many of the questions to achieve this answer may have been too personal and caused a great deal of pain, or stress to the participant.  For this reason, this was not explored.  No significant differences were found in relation to the genders.

This could be due, in part, to the fact that there were only twelve male participants and fifty-one female participants.  This under-representation of males does not give them equal weight in the sample.  One could postulate that if there were to be an equal representation of males in the sample, the overall scores would increase.  Males also tended to come into the study in groups after a sporting practice, and sit close together.  The association of masculinity, related to being a sports player, and intimacy may have created some dissonance for these participants.  The arrival of the sports player participants (with their sports gear) may have also cued other participants to feel uncomfortable about responding as sensitive or fearful about intimacy, with a blatant reminder of what masculinity and strength are supposedly associated with.  The EOMIS was the other test measurement that was used in this study.

The scores on the EOMIS are significantly related to the scores on the FIS.  I believe that the scores are related, because there is a reciprocal relationship between the level of identity one reaches and the intimacy that they can achieve.  If a participant has done little exploration of the world and the people in it, and takes little particular stances on issues, he, or she is likely to have not been involved with many relationships.  He, or she is more likely to be fearful of intimate relationships, given the fact that he, or she is not familiar with how to act.  Someone that is high in achievement, meaning that the person knows how he, or she feels and has done great amounts of exploration in the world could respond by having lower levels of fear, related to intimacy.  This could be because he, or she has already been versed in the expectations of intimate relationships. The participant could also have had negative experiences in relationships, and thus developed a greater fear for intimate relationships.  There was also no relationship between parental marital status and identity development.

The result that there is no relationship between parental marital status and identity development is a positive finding that does not support the hypothesis.  This may mean that a participant’s parent’s marriage has dissolved; there is no longstanding damage on the participant’s identity development.  This may be related to outside support systems in the participant’s life.  There was also no significance related to gender and parents martial status related to identity development.  This may be related to the idea that both males and females participate in approximately the same amount of exploration, independent of whether the participant’s parents are married, or divorced.  Socio-economic status may also be related to the level of identity development. 

All of the participants classified themselves as upper, middle-class on the demographic sheets.  There may be something inherent to the upper, middle-class population that supports striving for identity.  Thirty-four (which is the majority), of the participants out of sixty-three, received identity scores in moratorium, the stage before complete achieved identity.  This is a superior finding for a population that consists mainly of a college freshmen population.  This experience and willingness to explore may be related to experiences that parent’s may have been able to provide, because of their SES, instilling in the participant a willingness to explore.  Fundamentally, the EOMIS may have been a taxing test to take. 

The EOMIS is a sixty-four-item questionnaire that divides the questions into relationship, politics, career, dating, marriage responsibility, faith, friends, and parental influence on decisions.  Some participants have considered the test repetitive. Although the test presents this way; it is a measure to ensure that the participant is giving a consistent answer.  Many of the questions related to parental influence may have been difficult to answer.  For many college freshmen, it is their first time away from home, and thus they want to remove themselves from their parent’s influence.  A question like, “I only date people my parents would approve of” may be considered offensive and challenging to someone who is trying to establish themselves as independent from his, or her parents.  The population and location of the studies sample may have also affected other responses to questions.

The population that the study used was from a Catholic college.  Because of this, many of the participants may have already been primed to answer the questions, related to religious beliefs.  The majority of the sample of participants used in the study was from a Catholic background.  Also, many have been educated in theology at the school.  The questionnaire asks the participants what their beliefs are in relation to religion.  This may not always be the answer that the participants would have provided if the setting was different, for instance a secular environment.  The participants may have been primed to respond a certain way because of the location of the Catholic college and their general religious backgrounds.  The political environment may have also influenced the participant’s answers on the politically based questions on the EOMIS. 

Many of the questions on the EOMIS are related to participant’s awareness and involvement in political life.  Political campaigning and the involvement of the college in spreading political awareness may have increased the participant’s score in this category.  The participant’s political awareness scale may not have been indicative of their overall score.