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Adolescents’ True-Self Behavior and Adjustment: The Role of Family Security and Satisfaction of Basic Psychological Needs
- Merrill-Palmer Quarterly
- Wayne State University Press
- Volume 62, Number 1, January 2016
- pp. 48-73
- 10.13110/merrpalmquar1982.62.1.0048
- Article
- Additional Information
Associations between security within the family, satisfaction of basic psychological needs, true-self behavior, and knowledge of true self, as well as levels of adjustment, were explored in a sample of early adolescents and midadolescents in Israel (N = 302, mean age = 14.19 years). Both security within the family and needs satisfaction were found to be moderately associated with true-self variables with parents. Needs satisfaction was also associated with true-self variables with classmates. True-self behavior with parents, classmates, and knowledge of true self correlated negatively with various domains of maladjustment. True-self behavior with parents fully mediated the associations between security within the family and adolescents’ adjustment regardless of adolescents’ age. The findings highlight the role of true-self behaviors as a mechanism through which security in the family contributes to Israeli adolescents’ adjustment.