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Attachment and Individuation of Deaf/Hard-of-Hearing and Hearing Young Adults
School of Education, Tel Aviv University
This study examined differences between deaf/hard-of-hearing (D/HH) and hearing persons with regard to two interrelated and continuous developmental processes: attachment (Bowlby, 1969) and individuation (Mahler, 1963). The study also examined intergroup differences in two personal variables assumed to be influenced by these processes: self-esteem and well-being. Participants comprised 38 D/HH and 42 hearing persons aged 18 to 35 years from middle and upper-middle socioeconomic classes. All the D/HH participants had graduated from mainstreamed educational programs. Findings showed that D/HH participants expressed more fear of attachment and more fear of individuation than did hearing participants. D/HH participants also revealed a lower self-esteem and lower level of well-being compared to hearing participants. Higher fear of attachment correlated with lower levels of self-esteem and well-being. Results supported the theorized relationships between attachment and individuation processes and between these two processes and personality characteristics such as self-esteem and well-being.
Correspondence should be sent to Amatzia Weisel, School of Education, Tel Aviv University, Ramat Aviv 69978 Israel (e-mail: weisel{at}post.tau.ac.il).
Received June 8, 2004; revised July 26, 2004; accepted July 30, 2004
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