The relationship between the imaginary audience (IA) and the personalfable (PF), narcissism, and various dimensions of separation-individuation was examined. The subjects were 45 sixth-graders, 54 eighth-graders, 40 tenth-graders, and 30 twelfth-graders, drawn from one school district in a predominantly middle-class community. Newly developed measures of imaginary audience and the personal fable were used, as were the Narcissistic Personality Inventory and the Separation-Individuation Test of Adolescence. The results were: (a) the IA and the PF were positively correlated with narcissism: (b) the [A was positively related to object relational concerns such as engulfment, symbiosis, succorance, enmeshment, and separation anxiety; (c) the PF was positively related to dependency denial and to self-centeredness, and was negatively related to separation anxiety and engulfment; (d) males reported higher scores on measures that reflect agentic concerns, such as narcissism, personal fable, omnipotence, invulnerability, and selfcenteredness, females reported higher scores on interpersonal dimensions, such as enmeshment, symbiosis, and separation anxiety. Cross-sectional findings and sex differences are reported. The results are seen to support an integrative model of adolescent ego development.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Adams, G. R.
, & Jones, R. (1981). Imaginary audience behavior: A validation study. Journal of Early Adolescence, 1, 1-10.
2.
Blasi, A.
, & Hoeffel, E. (1974). Adolescence and formal operations. Human Development, 17, 344-363.
3.
Blos, P.
(1962). On adolescence. Glencoe, IL: Free Press.
4.
Blyth, D. A.
, Simmons, R. G., & Carleton-Ford, S. (1983). The adjustment of early adolescents to school transitions. Journal of Early Adolescence, 3, 105-120.
5.
Elkind, D.
(1967). Egocentrism in adolescence. Child Development, 38, 1025-1034.
6.
Elkind, D.
(1985). Egocentrism redux. Developmental Review, 5, 218-226.
7.
Elkind, D.
, & Bowen, R. (1979). Imaginary audience behavior in children and adolescents. Developmental Psychology, 15, 33-44.
8.
Emmons, R. A.
(1981). Relationship between narcissism and sensation-seeking. Psychological Reports, 48, 247-250.
9.
Emmons, R. A.
(1984). Factor analysis and construct validity of the Narcissistic Personality Inventory. Journal of Personality Assessment, 48, 291-300.
10.
Enright, R. D.
, Lapsley, D. K., & Shukla, D. (1979). Adolescent egocentrism in early and late adolescence. Adolescence, 14, 687-695.
11.
Enright, R. D.
, Shukla, D., & Lapsley, D. K. (1980). Adolescent egocentrism-sociocentrism and self-consciousness. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 9, 101-116.
12.
Gilligan, C.
(1982). In a different voice. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
13.
Goossens, L.
(1984). Imaginary audience behavior as a function of age, sex, and formal operations. International Journal of Behavioral Development, 1, 77-93.
14.
Gray, W.
, & Hudson, L. (1984). Formal operations and the imaginary audience. Developmental Psychology, 20, 619-627.
15.
Grotevant, H.
, & Cooper, C. (1985). Patterns of interaction in family relationships and the development of identity exploration in adolescence. Child Development, 56, 425-428.
16.
Josselson, R.
(1980). Ego development in adolescence. In J. Adelson (Ed.), Handbook of adolescent psychology (pp. 188-210). New York: Wiley.
17.
Josselson, R.
(1988). The embedded self: I and thou revisited. In D. K. Lapsley & F. C. Power (Eds.), Self, ego, and identity; Integrative approaches (pp. 91-108). New York: Springer.
18.
Lapsley, D. K.
(1985). Elkind on egocentrism. Developmental Review, 5, 201-217.
19.
Lapsley, D. K.
(in press a). The adolescent egocentrism theory and the "new look" at the imaginary audience and personal fable. In R. M. Lerner, A. C. Petersen, & J. Brooks-Gunn (Eds.), The encyclopedia of adolescence. New York: Garland.
20.
Lapsley, D. K.
(in press b). Continuity and discontinuity in adolescent social cognitive development. In R. Montemayor, G. R. Adams, & T. Gullota (Eds.), Advances in adolescence research, Vol. 2. New York: Academic Press.
21.
Lapsley, D. K.
, Jackson, S., Rice, K. G., & Shadid, G. E. (1988). Self-monitoring and the "new look" at the imaginary audience and personal fable: An ego-developmental analysis. Journal of Adolescent Research, 3, 17-31.
22.
Lapsley, D. K.
, Milstead, M., Quintana, S. M., Flannery, D., & Buss, R. R. (1986). Adolescent egocentrism and formal operations: Tests of a theoretical assumption. Developmental Psychology, 22, 800-807.
23.
Lapsley, D. K.
, & Murphy, M. (1985). Another look at the theoretical assumptions of adolescent egocentrism. Developmental Review, 5, 201-217.
24.
Lapsley, D. K.
, & Rice, K. G. (1988). The "new look" at the imaginary audience and personal fable: Toward a general model of adolescent ego development. In D. K. Lapsley & F. C. Power (Eds.), Self, ego, and identity: Integrative approaches (pp. 109-129). New York: Springer
25.
Lechner, C.
, & Rosenthal, D. (1983). Adolescents, self-consciousness, and the imaginary audience. Genetic Psychology Monographs, 110, 289-305.
26.
Levine, J. B.
, Green, C. J., & Millon, T. (1986). The separation-individuation test of adolescence. Journal of Personality Assessment, 50, 123-137.
27.
Loevinger, J.
, Wessler, R., & Redmore, C. (1970). Measuring ego development. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
28.
Lueptow, L. L.
(1984). Adolescent sex roles and social change. New York: Columbia University Press.
29.
Mahler M.
, Pine, F., & Bergman, A. (1975). The psychological birth of the human infant. New York: Basic Books.
30.
Millon, T.
, Green, C., & Meagher, R. (1982). Millon adolescent personality inventory manual. Minneapolis, MN: National Computer Systems.
31.
Raskin, R. N.
(1980). Narcissism and creativity: Are they related?Psychological Reports, 46, 55-60.
32.
Raskin, R. N.
, & Hall, C. S. (1979). A narcissistic personality inventory. Psychological Reports, 45, 590-590.
33.
Raskin, R. N.
, & Hall, C. S. (1981). The narcissistic personality inventory: Alternative form reliability and further evidence of construct validity. Journal of Personality Assessment, 45, 159-162.
34.
Riley, T.Adams, G.
, & Nielsen, E. (1984). Adolescent egocentrism: The association among imaginary audience behavior, cognitive development, and parental support and rejection. Journal of Youth and Adolescence, 13, 401-417.
35.
Selman, R.
(1980). The growth of interpersonal understanding. New York: Academic Press.
36.
Steinwand, G. M.
(1984). Adolescent individuation: The culmination of a developmental line. Journal of the American Academy of Psychoanalysis, 12, 43-57.
37.
Weiner, 1.
(1970). Psychological disturbances in adolescence. New York: Wiley.
