Maternal Competence, Expectation, and Involvement

Abstract

Summary The relation of maternal competence, expectation, and involvement in child-rearing decisions to paternal personality and marital characteristics was examined in 45 thirty-year-old mothers whose husbands had been studied since their matriculation at college. Maternal competence was assessed by husband and wife ratings; maternal expectations and involvement by a Parental Child Rearing Questionnaire that measured parental behavior in 35 childrearing tasks. Maternal competence and involvement were, respectively, significantly related to 13% and 18% of more than 400 measures of marital adjustment and paternal personality. Involved and competent mothers had more mature and competent husbands and happier marriages that were marked by excellent communication and compatible values. Maternal involvement, rather than expectation level, was a more important component of maternal competence. Competence may be mediated by more generalized personality traits characteristic of maturity.