Sex Role Identification of Children of Divorced Parents

This study was designed to explore the effects of parental divorce on the male college student's over-all adjustment and his difficulty in completing the sex role identification process. Behavioral ratings of the Ss and their scores on the MMPI were used to test each of these effects. Specifically it was hypothesized that the conflict in the home preceding the divorce, more than the separation from one of the parents after it, was likely to cause difficulty for the "child" in the sex-typing process. It was also suggested that in the cases where the male "child of divorce" originally blamed the father for the parental conflict and subsequent separation he would be less likely to complete the sex-typing process than those male "children" who did not blame the father. Further it was felt that the remaining parent's remarriage would presumably enhance the probability for the successful completion of the sex-typing process. This hypothesis, unlike the others, was not, however, supported by the data. Finally it was suggested that those male "children" who had difficulty in adopting sex-appropriate social behavior, and who thus appeared to be less masculine than those who had not, would show poorer over-all personality adjustment. Data in support of this hypothesis approached statistical significance. The results of the study were then discussed in relation to the traditional psychoanalytic and differential reinforcement theories of the sex-typing process.