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The influence of the early maladaptive schemas on social adaptation: the mediation effect of gender traits

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Abstract

Early maladaptive schemas are solid and lasting negative beliefs held by people that affect all aspects of their lives. This study conducted a questionnaire survey of 201 middle school students to explore the relationship between early maladaptive schemas, gender-role types, and social adaptation. More importantly, it examined the mediating effect of gender traits on early maladaptive schemas and social adaptation. The results showed no differences in early maladaptive schemas between gender-role types, but significant differences in social adaptation between different gender-role types. Androgyny scored highest on social adaptation compared to other gender-role types, while undifferentiated scored lowest. The most critical thing was that gender traits partially mediated the influence of “Dependence on incapacity schema” and “Self-sacrifice schema” on social adaptation. This study suggests that the influence of family ecology on adolescents’ social adaptation is durable and can be mediated by gender traits.

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Acknowledgements

The work was supported by the National Social Science Foundation of China (grant numbers 18BRK039). In addition, we sincerely thank the teachers who supported and assisted the project research and the participants who participated in the project.

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  1. I.-Jun Chen and Haiwen Qi have contributed equally to this work and should therefore both be regarded as first authors.

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  1. School of Education, Soochow University, Dushuhu Campus, No. 1, Wenjing Road, Suzhou Industrial Park (SIP), Suzhou, 215123, Jiangsu, China

    I.-Jun Chen, Haiwen Qi & Zhiyin Sun

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IJC composed the conception and design and drafted the article; HQ interpreted data and revised it critically for important intellectual content; ZS collaborated with the writing of the study.

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Chen, IJ., Qi, H. & Sun, Z. The influence of the early maladaptive schemas on social adaptation: the mediation effect of gender traits. Qual Quant 57, 4939–4958 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11135-022-01592-6

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