Intimacy Avoidance, Depression, and Ego-Identity in Japanese Young Adults

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between tendency to avoid intimacy and depression and ego-identity in Japanese young adults. Two-hundred ninety-two university students, 125 men and 167 women, completed a questionnaire measuring the tendency to avoid intimacy with others, anthropophobic tendency, and depression and ego-identity. They were divided in data analysis into three groups: intimacy avoiding, anthropophobic, and no phobic/avoidant. ANOVA showed that intimacy avoiders endorsed fewer depressive symptoms and had higher scores on ego-identity than the anthropophobic. It was also shown that intimacy avoiders had lower scores on two ego-identity subscales than those without phobic or avoidant tendency. These results suggested that intimacy avoiders had better mental health than the anthropophobic, although they may be more prone to ego-identity crises in interpersonal relationship than those who were less afraid of intimacy.