TRANSITION TO MOTHERHOOD DURING FIRST PREGNANCY
Abstract
A symbolic interaction approach is used in assessing the effects of family background, current social statuses, and social psychological aspects of pregnancy experiences upon the salience of maternal role-identities during first pregnancy. The first pregnancy is viewed as a status passage during which a woman redefines herself in terms of the mother role. Sixty women were interviewed during their first pregnancies. Path models were used as the main analytic strategy. Separate sets of equations were fitted to account for variation in enactments associated with pregnancy and motherhood, respectively. In the two models fitted to explain pregnancy enactments, role-support, role conflict, and current socialization variables relating to pregnancy were included first with family background factors, and then with current social statuses, in separate sets of equations. The model including current social characteristics explained slightly more of the variation in pregnancy enactments than the family background model. Over all, current socialization, role-support for pregnancy, educational attainment, and gestational age had the greatest influence on pregnancy enactments. In the first set of equations fitted to explain motherhood enactments, role-support, role conflict, and current socialization for motherhood were included with family background factors and current social characteristics, respectively. The second set of equations included role-support, role conflict, current socialization, and enactments variables related to pregnancy itself. The social psychological factors related to pregnancy explained much more of the variation in motherhood enactments than did the social psychological factors related to motherhood. However, pregnancy enactments failed to influence motherhood enactments, suggesting that pregnancy and motherhood represent two concurrent, but distinct, role-identities which emerge in the self-perceptions of women during their first pregnancies. Over all, role-support and current socialization experiences related to pregnancy had a greater impact on the enactment of motherhood role-identities than family background factors or current social statuses.
Degree
Ph.D.
Subject Area
Families & family life|Personal relationships|Sociology
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