The Role of Career Identity Formation in Reshaping Marital Schemas Among Young Women: A Phenomenological Study of Inner Conflict and Identity Redefinition
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Objective: This study aimed to explore how career identity formation influences the transformation of marital schemas among young women, with particular attention to inner psychological conflict and identity redefinition.
Methods and Materials: This qualitative study employed a descriptive phenomenological design. Fourteen young women aged 22 to 30 years who were engaged in higher education or in the early stages of professional employment participated in the study. Participants were selected through purposive and theoretical sampling. Data were collected through in-depth semi-structured interviews conducted over three months. All interviews were audio-recorded, transcribed verbatim, and analyzed using Colaizzi’s seven-step phenomenological method. NVivo 14 software was used for data management and thematic organization. Strategies such as member checking, reflexive memoing, peer debriefing, and audit trail documentation were applied to enhance trustworthiness.
Findings: Analysis of the interview data yielded three major themes: cognitive dissonance between autonomy and attachment, schema instability triggered by career identity salience, and redefinition of marital desirability and compatibility. Participants described persistent tension between professional aspirations and traditional marital expectations. As career identity became more salient, previously internalized beliefs about marriage timing, gender roles, and relational commitment became unstable and subject to revision. Marriage was increasingly redefined as an elective and conditional life choice, contingent upon equality, mutual recognition, and compatibility with the participants’ professional identities.
Conclusion: Career identity formation plays a significant role in reshaping young women’s marital schemas by generating both psychological conflict and adaptive identity reconstruction. The findings highlight the importance of culturally sensitive counseling interventions that support integration of career aspirations with relational expectations in emerging adulthood.
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