Harris, Scott (2015) The Effect of Childhood Parental Acceptance-Rejection on Adulthood Fear of Intimacy, and the Mediating Effect of Alexithymia. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Non-supportive parenting behaviours are widely understood to have significant negative impacts on a developing child. Parental Acceptance-Rejection Theory postulates that parental rejection experienced in childhood is related to difficulty in building and maintaining intimate relationships in later life, and an associated fear of intimacy. What limited research exists regarding this relationship shows a link between recalled parental care and adulthood fear of intimacy, but suffers from significant methodological limitations, impacting the generalisability of its results. This study sought to extend previous research by measuring recalled maternal and paternal acceptance-rejection levels from childhood, and examining their relationships with adulthood fear of intimacy levels in males and females independently. Additionally, the personality construct of alexithymia was assessed as a possible mediator for each of these relationships. Participants responded to an online test battery including mother and father short-form versions of the Adult Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire (Rohner, 2008), the Fear of Intimacy Scale (Descutner & Thelen, 1991), and the Toronto Alexithymia Scale (Bagby, Parker, & Taylor, 1994). Responses from an Australian sample of 18-25 year old participants (79 males, 127 females) were gathered and analysed. The predicted positive correlational relationships were confirmed between recalled maternal and paternal rejection and adulthood fear of intimacy in both males and females. As hypothesised, both paternal rejection (9%) and maternal rejection (5%) contributed significantly and independently to the variability found in fear of intimacy in males. Despite similar hypotheses for the female sample, only paternal rejection (6%) was found to significantly predict adulthood fear of intimacy in females. Alexithymia was hypothesised to mediate all four of these relationships, and was found to partially mediate the relationships between recalled paternal rejection and adulthood fear of intimacy in both males and females, as well as the relationship between recalled maternal rejection and adulthood fear of intimacy in males. Alexithymia fully mediated the relationship between recalled maternal rejection and adulthood fear of intimacy in females. The results suggest that childhood maternal and paternal rejection are experienced differently, and their impact on fear of intimacy in later life differs between genders. The differing significance of alexithymia as a mediator indicates these relationships are complex, and warrant future investigation and consideration. This project contributes to the International Fear of Intimacy Project, which coordinates results from over 35 similar projects worldwide, to explore the international and cross-cultural reliability of these outcomes.
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| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Zahra Izadikhah |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 27 Aug 2025 02:26 |
| Last Modified: | 27 Aug 2025 02:26 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | acceptance, rejection, fear of intimacy, PARTheory, IPARTheory, alexithymia |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52391 |
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