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Abstract

Sex differences and similarities among spouses on differentiation of self were evaluated for 108 heterosexual couples who completed the Differentiation of Self Inventory 2 of Skowron. Four scores on self-differentiation were assessed, emotional reactivity, emotion cutoff, “I” position, and fusion with others. Significant sex differences were found on all subscales. Women tended to express their state of emotionality by engaging with their partners via emotional reactivity, whereas men tended to express their state of emotionality by disengaging from their partners. Women scored lower on adherence to their convictions or beliefs than their spouses. Moreover, the results were not supportive of similarities of self-differentiation among spouses as posited by Bowen.

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Self-Differentiation within Couples

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