Role Deviance or Role Diversification: Reassessing the Psychosocial Factors Affecting the Parenthood Choice of Career-Oriented Women

Abstract

This study examines the relationships among career marital and family role saience variables parenthood motivations and childhood paternal and maternal relationships for 2 groups of married graduate student women-those who were mothers and those voluntarily choosing to remain childless. Both discriminant and multiple analyses of variance procedures revealed significant differences between the groups in types of motivations described to parenting levels of parental role salience and degrees of reported dissatisfaction with early paternal and maternal relationships. A major difference between the 2 groups was noted in the area of satisfaction with their paternal relationship. The mothers in the study reported much more dissatisfaction with their paternal relationship and with certain dimensions of their maternal relationship than did the childless women. (authors)