The Relationships of Parent-Child Relationship and Self-Differentiation with Interpersonal Competence among College Students

대학생이 지각한 부모-자녀 관계와 자아분화 및 대인관계 유능성 간의 관계

Objectives: The major purpose of this study was to analyze the relationships of parent-child relationship and self-differentiation with interpersonal competence among college students. Specifically, this study also attempted to find the differences of three major variables according to participant's general characteristics, to investigate the correlations among variables and to analyze the effects of related variables on interpersonal competence. Method: The participants were 388 college students in Jeollabuk-do province. The data were collected by self-administered questionnaire method. Results: First, there were significant differences in the level of interpersonal competence according to gender and the monthly family income. Second, correlational analyses results indicated that college students' interpersonal competence was positively related with parent-child relationship and self-differentiation, and the latter two variables were also positively correlated. Finally, the results of multiple regression analyses reported that interpersonal competence was influenced by intimacy with mother, I-position, and emotional cutoff, showing that I-position was the most influential variable. In addition, I-position was also found to be the powerful variable affecting all sub-factors of interpersonal competence. Conclusions: This study suggests the importance of providing education and/or counseling services focusing on strengthening the relationship with their parents and on increasing self-differentiation level for college students' greater interpersonal competence, which are considered as critical indices of their mental health and psychological well-being.