The Relationship Between Self-Differentiation and Fear of Intimacy in College Students: The Mediating Role of Selfidentity and the Moderating Role of Mindfulness

Currently, the identity development of college students is in a relatively delayed stage due to their limited life experience and insufficient social exploration. According to Erikson’s stages of development, the outcome of the previous stage will affect the intimate relationships in the early adulthood of the next stage. Bowen’s theory regards self - differentiation as an ability of adults to be independent from their original families. Therefore, this study explores the relationship between self - differentiation and fear of intimacy, and further examines the mediating role of self - identity and the moderating role of Mindfulness.Utilizing a questionnaire survey method, 422 valid questionnaires were collected from college students. The results indicate that: (1) Self-differentiation is significantly negatively correlated with fear of intimacy among college students; (2) Ego identity plays a partial mediating role in this relationship; (3) Mindfulness exerts a significant moderating effect on the relationship between self-differentiation and fear of intimacy.