Development of Identity in Women

by Sarah Haug, Psy.D

The subject of ‘identity’ was brought to my attention as a topic of interest for the Women’s Group I am facilitating at the Wellness Connection. As I as searched through articles and information about women’s identity development it became apparent that the search for identity and personal development is an ongoing theme in women’s lives. In fact, data from one literature review on the psychosocial development of women concludes that “..diverse and non-linear patterns of stability and transition are the norm for women; intimacy and identity are key issues throughout women’s lives.” (Caffarella & Olson, 1993).  So if you are a woman hoping to rest in peace once you have ‘found your identity,’ think again. Perhaps it is in our nature to be constantly in quest of ourselves and maybe, just maybe, this is a good thing.

Think about it: as women we are required, wired and certainly socialized to be attentive to the needs of others—particularly our family and children. To do this we must be flexible, good at multi-tasking, ever on the alert for changes in our environment and ready to respond. So, it seems logical that our searching nature is also turned inwards towards our Self as part of our journey through life.

Looking at ourselves is also a critical part of forming and maintaining relationships, and vice versa; i.e., we women derive a lot of information about ourselves through our relationships, thus our relationships are critical to our development.  Of course relationships are important to the development of all humans, but our biological ‘destiny’ as women seems to require emphasis on intimacy skills since close relationships strengthen our network of support key to our success and survival.

Now that I have made the rather unsettling point that it is our nature as women to always be searching for identity, we can exhale into this fact and just ride the wave, right?  Well, maybe, but if you need more concrete data about our development as women, I also offer some other interesting factoids gleaned from my exploration of women’s identity and development below:

Empirical accounts of middle age converge on four important features of midlife for women (Clausen, 1986; Erickson, 1980; Neugarten, 1968) that affect well being:

• Identity 
• Generativity
• Confident power
• Concern about aging

Women generally feel more identity certainty (security about ‘who we are’), generativity (getting important things done), and confident power (feeling competent) in their 40’s than they did in their 30’s, and these positive features of development appear to increase with age.  (Stewart, Ostrove & Helson, 2001; Zucker, Stewart & Ostrove, 2002).

Women in their 20’s feel less concern about aging, (Well, “duh” as is often said after reading psychology research literature.) but also report less identity certainty, generativity and confident power compared with women in their 40’s, 50’s and 60’s.

Generativity tends to level out after the 50’s but confident power tends to increase through the 60’s.
Concern about aging is more prominent in women aged 40+ than women in their 20’s and 30’s (another “duh”), and this factor is negatively related to well-being.  On the other hand, women in their 20’s and 30s’ report higher levels of personal distress than do women in their 40’s-60’s.

So, the good news is that as we age, we women can expect more security in our identity (or maybe just more comfort riding the wave of our never-ending search for self!), greater generativity and more confidence.  The bad news is that as we get into our 40’s and upward we become aware of aging and suffer more anxiety about aging and health, leading to decreased well being.  What is the saying that comes to mind here? Oh yes,  “Youth is wasted on the young.”  But to find the silver lining: Could it be that we learn more about ourselves through experiencing loss and frailty?  A question to be explored in another blog...