The relational consequences of self-silencing for undergraduate women
Author ORCID Identifier
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2381-013X : Tanja Samardzic
Standing
Graduate (Masters)
Type of Proposal
Oral Presentation
Faculty
Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences
Faculty Sponsor
Dr. Charlene Y. Senn
Proposal
Gender involves socially-constructed and context-dependent characteristics that make up one’s identity (Gerson & Peiss, 1985). Societal gender roles, however, are imposed upon young women early on. They learn what is expected of them as women in society, including maintaining intimate relationships. Consequently, women may learn self-silencing, a collection of behaviours that involves suppressing their self-expressions. This sometimes results in a division of self: the inner self, which is angry and hostile, and the outer self, which ascribes to socially-dictated norms of how women “should be” (Jack, 1991). Little research thus far has focused on self-silencing behaviours that women use to cope in problematic relationships or stressful situations. Although it is unclear what prompts self-silencing, a guiding hypothesis in the context of relationships with abusive men is that women use self-silencing to “delay the inevitable,” or prolong the time before the onset of impending abuse (Thompson et al., 2001). Self-silencing women may be less likely to communicate emotional content with their partner (Christensen & Shenk, 1991). Further, self-silencing women may be more likely to comply with unwanted sex, especially if it is prompted by the fear of impending violence. Therefore, the effects of two subscales of self-silencing (i.e., silencing the self and division of self) on two relational consequences (i.e., reciprocal communication and sexual compliance) were analyzed. Women with and without abuse experience (N = 304) completed measures of self-silencing, sexual compliance, and reciprocal communication (divided into constructive, self-demand/partner withdraw, and partner demand/self-withdraw) and path analyses were employed to analyze the data. Division of self was a significant predictor of all the relational consequences while silencing the self was significant for all but self-demand/partner withdraw and sexual compliance. This study contributes to the current psychological literature by helping to understand the relational consequences for women in intimate relationships with men.
Grand Challenges
Healthy Great Lakes
Special Considerations
N/A
The relational consequences of self-silencing for undergraduate women
Gender involves socially-constructed and context-dependent characteristics that make up one’s identity (Gerson & Peiss, 1985). Societal gender roles, however, are imposed upon young women early on. They learn what is expected of them as women in society, including maintaining intimate relationships. Consequently, women may learn self-silencing, a collection of behaviours that involves suppressing their self-expressions. This sometimes results in a division of self: the inner self, which is angry and hostile, and the outer self, which ascribes to socially-dictated norms of how women “should be” (Jack, 1991). Little research thus far has focused on self-silencing behaviours that women use to cope in problematic relationships or stressful situations. Although it is unclear what prompts self-silencing, a guiding hypothesis in the context of relationships with abusive men is that women use self-silencing to “delay the inevitable,” or prolong the time before the onset of impending abuse (Thompson et al., 2001). Self-silencing women may be less likely to communicate emotional content with their partner (Christensen & Shenk, 1991). Further, self-silencing women may be more likely to comply with unwanted sex, especially if it is prompted by the fear of impending violence. Therefore, the effects of two subscales of self-silencing (i.e., silencing the self and division of self) on two relational consequences (i.e., reciprocal communication and sexual compliance) were analyzed. Women with and without abuse experience (N = 304) completed measures of self-silencing, sexual compliance, and reciprocal communication (divided into constructive, self-demand/partner withdraw, and partner demand/self-withdraw) and path analyses were employed to analyze the data. Division of self was a significant predictor of all the relational consequences while silencing the self was significant for all but self-demand/partner withdraw and sexual compliance. This study contributes to the current psychological literature by helping to understand the relational consequences for women in intimate relationships with men.