Communication with Mom and Dad

I was reading a book this week entitled Explaining Family Interactions, and I came upon a chapter about parent-adolescent communication. The author sites a study which claims that girls who respect their mother's views on life and are accepting and responsive to them are less likely to engage in "identity exploration". Boys, on the other hand, are more likely to develop their own identities if they are responsive to their father's views on life. In my own experience, I have found this to be true and not true. I know girls who are dependent on their mothers, but I also know girls who agree with their mothers on most issues but are still independent, thinking individuals. One of my best friends from high school rejected many of her mom's views while she was in high school, but now she is accepting them and becoming more dependent on her parents in many ways. I don't know as much about boys in this situation (someone please fill me in!). Is this claim true, and if so, why?