THE EFFECTS OF SEPARATION-INDIVIDUATION CONFLICTS ON LENGTH OF TIME TO COMPLETE THE DISSERTATION (LOSS, GRADUATE SCHOOL, WRITER'S BLOCK).
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Title
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THE EFFECTS OF SEPARATION-INDIVIDUATION CONFLICTS ON LENGTH OF TIME TO COMPLETE THE DISSERTATION (LOSS, GRADUATE SCHOOL, WRITER'S BLOCK).
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Identifier
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AAI8601695
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identifier
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8601695
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Creator
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STERN, FREDERICK PRESTON.
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Contributor
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Herbert Nechin
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Date
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1985
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical
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Abstract
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This study investigated the effects of psychological variables on the rates at which students finish their doctoral dissertations. Completing the dissertation was conceptualized as a major task in the professional development of graduate students. From this perspective four measures were developed by the author to identify subjects who were likely to be vulnerable to separation-individuation conflicts activated by the dissertation process. These four variables included a history of separation and loss in childhood, evidence of difficulty with separation and individuation from the family at the time of going to and leaving college, a history of indirection in the pursuit of professional goals during and after college, and a perception of traits in parents which are associated with difficulty in individuation. It was hypothesized that high scores on each of these measures, as well as on Cohen's Fear of Success Scale, would be correlated with longer times doing the dissertation and longer times from beginning graduate school completion of the Ph.D. Data was collected from a questionaire sent to 93 Ph.D graduates of City University. The graduates came from the hard sciences, the social sciences and the humanities. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to examine the unique effect of each of the variables on length of time doing the dissertation and length of time in graduate school. The results supported the hypothesis that a history of early loss and separation is associated with longer times doing a dissertation. However, the other hypotheses tested were not confirmed. The lack of findings to support the other hypotheses were understood as the result of methodological problems. Additional findings included strong evidence that infrequent meetings with the advisor, high dependency, inability to plan ahead, periods of being unable to bring oneself to work on the dissertation, and stress (full time job) were associated with longer times doing the dissertation, and to a lesser extent with longer times in graduate school. Recommendations were made for a graduate school environment which would facilitate completing the dissertation.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
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Program
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Psychology
