Negative Attitude towards Motherhood in Modern Women: Settings and Conditions ²¹⁷³

The author addresses the issue of attitudes towards motherhood in modern women of reproductive age. The paper focuses on the phenomena that give evidence of unfavorable social tendencies referring to partial or com¬plete withdrawal of women from fulfilling the social role of mother. A study that involved 40 mothers of infants enabled the author to outline significant differences in the subjects' performances of their roles as mothers. For instance, some of the women tended to minimize their participation in caring for the child. The analysis of the reasons for such behavior suggests that they are rooted not so much in the social conditions of the women's lives, but rather in the personalities of the latter. In accordance with the general idea of the research, the author proceeds with a group of childfree women who made a conscious decision not to have children. The study involved 43 women of reproductive age. This time the exploration of reasons behind such refusal revealed a spe¬cific value orientation of the respondents. The author concludes that the development of certain features of personality contributing to an individual's negative attitude towards motherhood may be determined by a number of characteristics typical of the modern sociocultural space.

Keywords: motherhood, attitude to motherhood, sphere of motivation and needs, value orientation

Column: Empirical Research

DOI: https://doi.org/10.17759/chp.2015110106