A STUDY ON SENSE OF EGO IDENTITY IN ADULT WOMEN - FROM THE VIEWPOINT OF RELATIONSHIP WITH INTERDEPENDENT-INDEPENDENT CONSTRUAL OF THE SELF

The purpose of this study was to investigate two aspects of ego identi ty based on independent and interdependent construal of the self in ad ult women and try to grasp them developmentally from the viewpoint of lifestyle (housewife, office worker, agriculture). Ego identity scale and independent / interdependent construal of the self scale were admi nistered to 318 women (age range, 30-59). The main results were summar ized as follows : (1) Scores of independent / interdependent construal of the self scale had a tendency to keep increasing from 40' to 50'. (2) Agriculture group tended to have intense interdependent construal of the self in neighborhood compared with other groups. Office workers tended to have less interdependent construal of the self in the house compared with other groups. (3) What identity was based on tended to change in 30', 40', 50' as followes. agricultures : independent --> in dependent --> independent / interdependent. (construal of the self). o ffice worker : independent --> independent --> independent (construal of the self). housewives : interdependent --> independent --> independ ent / interdependent (construal of the self).