The Myth of Motherhood: A Study of Attitudes Toward Motherhood

Rachel T. Hare‐Mustin · Patricia C. Broderick

56 citations0/0 files storedPsychology of Women Quarterly

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Gender and Feminist Studies Family Dynamics and Relationships Gender Roles and Identity Studies

Abstract

Traditional attitudes toward motherhood reflect many contradictions. The Motherhood Inventory (MI), a 40 item questionnaire, has been developed to study attitudes toward motherhood and the motherhood myth. The MI includes items relating to the control of reproduction, abortion, adoption, single motherhood, male-female relationships, and idealized and punitive attitudes toward mothers. The 301 subjects in this study were drawn largely from undergraduate and graduate students at an eastern university and their parents. Comparisons with scores on the Spence-Helmreich Attitudes toward Women Scale (AWS) revealed that the sample was more liberal than the original AWS sample. Men were found to hold significantly more traditional attitudes toward motherhood than women. Younger subjects also agreed more with the myth of motherhood as did unmarried subjects. Catholics more than non-Catholics rejected abortion and supported the primacy of the woman's role as mother. Education produced the most pronounced effect on attitudes toward motherhood with more liberal attitudes held by those who were college graduates.

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References

1973A short version of the Attitudes toward Women Scale (AWS)1978A Feminist Approach to Family Therapy 1976The Motherhood Mandate 1972Determinants of Occupational Role Innovation Among College Women1 1975U. S. Women's Sex-Role Ideology, 1970 1967Mothers of Six Cultures: Antecedents of Child Rearing.1973Who wants the children?: Some relationships among attitudes toward children, parents, and the liberation of women.

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