El aprendizaje autónomo y el modelo colaborativo en la educación virtual

Separation-individuation accounted for the most unique variance in the

more resolved separation-individuation was linked to a lower fear of intimacy. Future studies may want to investigate whether less resolved separation-individuation is a barrier to the achievement of intimacy within a romantic relationship. Past research has highlighted the importance of separation-individuation and the capacity for intimacy in a romantic relationship as major developmental tasks (Blos, 1967;

Erikson, 1968; Scharf & Mayseless. 2007; Zimmer-Gembeck & Petherick, 2006). The current study did not measure intimacy in romantic relationships, but one of the factors identified by Hatfield (1984) as an underlying reason for a fear of intimacy was a fear of being engulfed, that is, losing one’s individuality or losing themselves in another. As results from the current study indicate that separation-individuation is linked to fear of intimacy it is possible that separation-individuation may influence the development of capacity for intimacy via fear of intimacy. If an individual has not resolved their separation-individuation with their parents, they may be engulfed in their relationship with them and lack a sense of individualism. It then does not seem surprising that the individual may fear being engulfed in another close relationship such as one with a romantic partner. This concept of engulfment could be investigated in future research.

As noted above in the summary of results higher perceived maternal care was associated with a lower fear of intimacy. Past research has found that perceptions of high care during childhood are linked to a secure attachment style whereas

perceptions of high overprotection in childhood are linked to an insecure attachment style (Gittleman et al., 1998). Similarly the presence of nurturing and supportive families in adolescence has been linked to supportiveness and less hostility in young adult romantic relationships (Conger et al., 2000), young adults’ views of parents as warm and responsive were associated with them having positive views of self and

others (Collins & Read, 1990), and those who had more positive reports of past parenting had better quality relationships with both parents and a romantic partner (Dalton et al., 2006). Most recently, Madsen and Collins (2011) found that positive parent-child processes were associated with better romantic relationship processes in young adulthood. The capacity for intimacy is believed to be linked to early parent- child relationships (Calarusso, 1992), with the origin of a secure attachment being linked to positive experiences that an individual has when seeking care from others (Cassidy, 2001). While this past research did not use the same measure as the current study (that is, the fear of intimacy scale) the studies highlight the positive link

between parental care and romantic relationships. The finding in the current study that high perceived maternal care was linked to a lower fear of intimacy in romantic relationships is not inconsistent with the links reported in the cited previous studies.

Both perceived maternal care and perceived maternal overprotection were associated with separation-individuation providing some evidence for the influence of maternal parenting, on separation-individuation. Those participants who had a

perception of high maternal care in childhood had more resolved separation- individuation. It is possible that the perceived care and warmth received from the mothers of the participants in the current study may be linked to the supporting of their child’s needs, including their need for independence, thereby supporting the negotiation of the separation-individuation process between parent and child.

Separation-individuation was less resolved for those who had an experience of high overprotection in the parenting they received from their mothers. This finding is consistent with past research that has suggested that high overprotective or controlling parenting does not facilitate the development of autonomy and independence.

adulthood, and family interactions in adolescence that lacked the establishment of autonomy and relatedness.

While as noted in the summary of results the bivariate association between perceived maternal overprotection and fear of intimacy was not significant, results from the hierarchical regression analysis showed that perceived maternal

overprotection made a small but significant unique contribution to fear of intimacy after controlling for the other independent variables. The direction of the association indicated that higher perceived maternal overprotection was linked to a lower fear of intimacy which was in contrast to the direction hypothesised in the proposed model.

It is possible that participants who had experienced higher overprotection (which involves a level of control) would be somewhat accustomed to intimacy, facilitated by a presumably close, controlling and protective relationship with a caregiver. It would be useful for future studies to examine the nature of a romantic relationship for those who appear to have experienced high maternal overprotection but demonstrate a low fear of intimacy. Arseth et al. (2009) identified a category of female participants within their study known as “mergers” (those having a tendency for enmeshment, dependency and idealized perceptions of partners) who had

difficulties with the process of separation-individuation. It is possible that the

attributes or quality of the relationship may be affected by higher perceived maternal overprotection and could perhaps involve some of the factors identified by Arseth et al. (2009). Presumably, a highly overprotective relationship would promote

dependency and a degree of enmeshment with the caregiver which may then extend to a romantic relationship, facilitated by a process of social learning and/or attachment related mechanisms.