Transition to motherhood: A longitudinal study

A prospective longitudinal study assessed the development of the mother-child relationship within the context of other important aspects of transition to parenthood. In the prenatal phase, 238 women who were 8 months pregnant with their first child completed a set of questionnaires. At 1 month post-partum, 165 of these women completed a second set of questionnaires, and a subset of 86 were observed for 1 hour at home with their infants. When their child was 2 years old, 62 of the 86 mothers completed questionnaires and were observed in interaction with their toddler in the laboratory. The several hundred individual variables were reduced to internally consistent composite variables, 5 in the prenatal phase, 7 postpartum, and 14 in the toddler phase. Preliminary analyses reported in this paper assessed the structure of relationships among the composite variables within each phase (Pearson correlations) and whether there was significant prediction from one dimension to another across the phases, beyond stability in the predicted dimension (multiple regressions). Causal modeling analyses are still in progress. The results indicate that the development of maternal attachment is a gradual process and that feelings of attachment are related to a number of other measures of women's psychological well-being. Parenting confidence was found to play a central role in adaptation to motherhood within each phase, as well as from the prenatal to postpartum and postpartum to toddler phases.     

From pregnancy to motherhood: The structure of representative and narrative change

The aim of this work was to identify ways of objectifying the course of mothers' represen tations of their babies and themselves as mothers during pregnancy and the postpartum period. A sample of 51 women attending a Family Guidance Clinic for psychoprophylaxis courses was studied using semistruc tured interviews that were administered in the 7th month of pregnancy and on the 5th day and in the 4th month postpartum. This paper describes a method for classifiying themes identified in the mothers' representations of the baby and of the self-as-mother as wish-organized, defense-organized, fear-organized, or disorganized. This classification derives from the presumed clinical function of the narrative themes in the mothers' representational world. Themes about the baby and about the self-as-mother were primarily fear-organized at the 7th month of pregnancy. On the 5th day postpartum, there was no prevailing thematic organization. At 4 months postpartum, representations of the baby were primarily fear-organized and almost never disorganized. We speculate that themes about the baby and the self-as-mother that are disorganized may have negative prognostic significance.     

Transition to motherhood and the self: measurement, stability, and change

Different ways of conceptualizing and measuring change in attitudes during transition to motherhood are examined. A series of analyses was performed on data from a cross-sectional sample (N = 667) and a smaller longitudinal sample (n = 48) to demonstrate sound psychometric properties for 2 new scales and to show construct comparability across different phases of childbearing. For Childbearing Attitudes Questionnaire, results demonstrated equality of covariance for 16 scales and comparability of structure and meaning of 4 higher order factors--identification with motherhood, social orientation, self-confidence, and negative aspects of giving birth. For Mothering Self-Definition Questionnaire, results demonstrated equality of covariance of 5 scales and comparability of structure and meaning of a single higher order factor, interpreted as reflecting positive feelings about one's mothering characteristics. Analyses of correlations and mean differences identified areas of change and stability.     

The transition to motherhood in an organizational context: An interpretative phenomenological analysis

Most of the extant literature on maternity issues is survey based, primarily concerned with identifying the predictors of return to work. The current study aims instead to understand experiences of maternity leave per se. Of the 10 women interviewed during pregnancy, 8 women were followed through to their return to work. Their interviews were analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis to identify transitional themes. Findings are discussed in terms of two master themes: changes of identity (involving feelings of gradual invisibility as a valued employee, acquisition of a ‘mother’ identity creating return dilemmas and efforts to revalidate oneself upon re‐entry as both a valued employee and a mother); and changed psychological contracts (pertaining to the fulfilment of mutual expectations). Overall, women appeared to struggle subjectively with prevailing their rights, needs and concerns as mothers while simultaneously also maintaining their identity as valued and functional members of the organization. The findings can be conceptualized within existing theoretical frameworks (e.g. Psychological Contract Theory) and to this extent it is possible to draw out implications for a more effective management of the transition process from pregnancy to return to work.     

Information-seeking and maternal self-definition during the transition to motherhood

The self-definitional processes accompanying the transition to motherhood were examined in this study. A cross-sectional sample of more than 600 women who were planning to get pregnant within 2 years, pregnant, or in the postpartum stage completed extensive questionnaires pertaining to their experiences of pregnancy and motherhood. On the basis of the assumption of the "self-socialization" perspective that individuals actively construct their identities in response to life transitions, our analyses focused on the role of information-seeking in the developing self-definitions of women becoming mothers. As predicted, (a) women actively sought information in anticipation of a first birth, (b) they used this information to construct identities incorporating motherhood, and (c) after the birth the determinants of their self-definitions shifted from indirect sources of information to direct experiences with child care. Hence, consistent with the self-socialization perspective, information-seeking did play an important role in the women's developing self-conceptions during this life transition. Mechanisms by which information gathered may alter self-conception are discussed.     

Women's new liberty of decision with regard to motherhood

Homologous (spouse) versus heterologous (anonymous donor) artificial insemination, which began in the 1950s, extracorporeal conception, in-vitro fertilization (test tube babies), and implantation of embryos in surrogate mothers are described. A government committee was formed to discuss medical, legal and ethical questions and to establish professional and medical guidelines. The status attached to motherhood in a modern emancipated society is given a fair evaluation. 30% of all sterility cases in women are assumed to derive from psychogenic factors and may be solved through psychoanalytic therapy. Hidden emotional motivations, negative or positive, may explain a willingness to put up with cost-intensive and time-consuming trials needed for extracorporeal conception. Sometimes subconscious aggression against the mate may trigger a decision for choosing heterologous conception. Women today have found a mighty ally in modern medicine which renders them virtually independent any specific male partner if they wish to become pregnant. Various degrees of emotional bonds exposed by mothers toward their artificially conceived babies are related to certain maternal archetypes. The prospect of a mother feeling thrill, awe and a sense of magic toward her newborn baby in spite of the blase "make-a-child" attitude that modern biotechnology might confer, is assessed optimistically.     

Giving birth in exile: motherhood as reterritorialization

This paper explores the effects of exile on the subjectivity of pregnant migrant women through the lens of the processes of deterritorialization and reterritorialization. Having escaped the gaze of the parental superego, the subject’s encounter with sexuality becomes possible. However, in addition to the emancipatory aspects of migration, we observe particular somatic-psychical effects on reproductive ability. These “exile” pregnancies are generally experienced as difficult and painful, laying bare a symptomatology that is as much psychical as somatic, and which highlights the cost of a desire for independence. In this context, where perinatal risks must be evaluated and treated through an interdisciplinary approach, a clinical accompaniment proves to be indispensable for the maternity to progress smoothly on foreign soil.     

The vocation of motherhood: Husserl and feminist ethics

In this paper, I explore a confrontation between Husserl’s ethical position of vocation and its absolute ought with a feminist ethical position. I argue that Husserl’s ethics has a great deal to offer a feminist ethics by providing for the possibility of an ethics that is particular rather than universal, that recognizes the role of the social through tradition in establishing values and norms without conceding the ethical responsibility of the individual, and that acknowledges the role of both reason and desire in establishing moral values that has the consequence of breaking down the public/private distinction that has reigned in so many ethical theories. In order to make this case, I proceed with a review of Husserl’s position of the absolute ought, some typical criticisms that might be leveled at his position, and finally, responses to those criticisms that show ways in which Husserl’s position can be beneficial to the formulation of a feminist ethics that is inclusive of the emotional aspect of moral valuation, and the particularity of ethical commitments, while providing for a different way of evaluating thinking that accommodates what are usually understood to be “feminine” concerns. In addition to describing Husserl’s position, I show how that position meets some of the expectations for a feminist ethics as put forth by Iris Marion Young and Sara Ruddick.     

Trait vulnerability and coping strategies in the transition to motherhood

Using a prospective design, we explored the role of approach and emotional/avoidance-coping strategies in the relations between dependent and self-critical trait vulnerabilities and postpartum depressive symptoms among first-time mothers. It was assumed that dependency and self-criticism associate with approach and emotional/ avoidance strategies respectively, and that approach-coping strategies moderate trait vulnerabilities to depressive symptoms after childbirth. One hundred forty-six first pregnancy participants were assessed during the third trimester of pregnancy and eight weeks postpartum. Dependency was found to associate positively with high approach and low emotional/avoidance-coping strategies, while self-criticism was found to correlate positively with high emotional/avoidance and low approachcoping strategies. In addition, approach-coping scores were found to moderate selfcritical trait vulnerability, reducing self-critical participants' depressive symptoms, thus confirming the coping effectiveness hypothesis. Results suggest that personality dispositions may affect the selection of coping processes, but that specific coping strategies are effective beyond personality characteristics, moderating the association between trait vulnerabilities and depressive symptoms. We propose a model in which self-criticism functions as vulnerability to depressive symptoms in the childbearing period. Our results illustrate the need to distinguish dependent and selfcritical personality traits, and point to the need to integrate personality and contextual factors in the study of childbirth depressive symptoms.     

Trait vulnerability and coping strategies in the transition to motherhood

Using a prospective design, we explored the role of approach and emotional/avoidance-coping strategies in the relations between dependent and self-critical trait vulnerabilities and postpartum depressive symptoms among first-time mothers. It was assumed that dependency and self-criticism associate with approach and emotional/ avoidance strategies respectively, and that approach-coping strategies moderate trait vulnerabilities to depressive symptoms after childbirth. One hundred forty-six first pregnancy participants were assessed during the third trimester of pregnancy and eight weeks postpartum. Dependency was found to associate positively with high approach and low emotional/avoidance-coping strategies, while self-criticism was found to correlate positively with high emotional/avoidance and low approachcoping strategies. In addition, approach-coping scores were found to moderate selfcritical trait vulnerability, reducing self-critical participants' depressive symptoms, thus confirming the coping effectiveness hypothesis. Results suggest that personality dispositions may affect the selection of coping processes, but that specific coping strategies are effective beyond personality characteristics, moderating the association between trait vulnerabilities and depressive symptoms. We propose a model in which self-criticism functions as vulnerability to depressive symptoms in the childbearing period. Our results illustrate the need to distinguish dependent and selfcritical personality traits, and point to the need to integrate personality and contextual factors in the study of childbirth depressive symptoms.     

对批评的回应

徐竹对于笔者的拙著《唯物论者何以言规范——一项从分析形而上学到信息技术哲学的多视角考察》的主要批评是,一种试图在唯物论框架中解释规范性问题的理论,自身也很容易反过来成为一种更深刻的规范性理论的被解释对象。对此,笔者的回应是:这种带有布兰登气质的"更深刻的规范性理论"其实反而是错过了"如何从无规范的物质出发说明规范"这一更艰难的理论问题。段伟文对于拙著的主要批评是:一种基于小数据主义的信息技术,是否来得及将人类从大数据的肆虐中解救出来?而笔者的回应是:笔者并不认为小数据主义一定会打败大数据主义,而是说,在不放弃信息技术带来的便利的前提下,小数据主义是解救人类既有文明的唯一技术通道。宗宁对于拙著的主要批评是:如果笔者将日本在明治维新之后的逐步军国主义化视为纵向的信息——物质管制结构的强化——的结果的话,那么,笔者又将如何解释丸山真男关于"日本恰恰是因为在近代化的过程中没有肃清横向的封建结构而走向军国"的论断呢?对此,笔者则试图指出:日本军部对于全日本武力资源的纵向上的垄断,以及对于封建结构下的武力分散结构的破坏,才使得日本国内缺乏足够的纠错力量,无力防止国家陷入军国主义泥潭。     

Responses to Embarrassment

This study focused upon responses to the emotion of embarrassment. Specifically, the situations causing embarrassment, the degree of perceived embarrassment and the agent of the embarrassment were examined as predictive of the embarrassed party's responses. These same three factors, as well as the response of the embarrassed person, were examined in association with the responses of others. In addition, the issue of multiple responses to embarrassment by the embarrassed party was examined. Self-report data werecollected from 387 persons ranging in age from 17 to 90 years. Log-linear analyses revealed strong associations between both the type of situation and the degree of embarrassment and the type of situation and the agent of the act. The type of situation did indeed predict responses by persons involved in the event. The degree of embarrassment was predictive of neither the types of responses utilized by the embarrassed party nor the others present. Theagent of the incident was strongly associated with responses of the embarrassed party, but was not associated with others’ responses. Responses of an embarrassed party were associated with the responses of others present. Finally, it was found that combinations of responses by the embarrassed party were discovered but were not associated with the situation nor with the degree of embarrassment.     

Responses to commentaries

This paper is an author response to three commentaries, by Robert Kraut and Itamar Rosenn (2012), Barry Wellman (2012) and Mark van Vugt (2012), on our article entitled ‘Relationships and the social brain: Integrating psychological and evolutionary perspectives’ ( Sutcliffe, Dunbar, Binder, & Arrow, 2012 ).     

Chinese Responses to Modernization: A Psychological Analysis

In the last one hundred plus years, China, under the impact of modernization, has undergone the most significant change in the past 5,000 years. Modernization is a continuous process of protest and change. At each stage of modernization, outcomes may be regarded as the result of complex strategies and responses to those demands. This paper will address the strategies and responses that Chinese have adopted in their attempt to deal with the pressure and challenge of modernization. As a background to understanding these strategies and responses, the following four perspectives will be delineated. First, my perspective is mainly at the micro level, but I will occasionally shift to the macro level when needed. Second, my analyses will largely rely on results from empirical research. They will be supplemented by daily-life observations and appropriate conceptual or theoretical analyses. Third, Chinese intellectuals have been playing a guiding role of enlightenment, criticism, and promotion and their responses have been influential in formulating, directing, or channeling the views of the general public. A comprehensive analysis of relevant ideologies and strategies endorsed by Chinese intellectuals will be provided. Finally, the analysis of Chinese responses to modernization will be based upon the relevant literature from all the three major Chinese societies (Taiwan, Hong Kong, and mainland China). In addition, this paper will clarify the basic modes and specific mechanisms of adaptation to drastic environmental changes. They will be applied as conceptual tools for the analysis of Chinese intellectuals' ideological responses to modernization and psychological processes involved in accommodating cognitive and behavioral changes in their daily lives.     

Responses to Parental Cancer: A Clinical Perspective

Parental cancer constitutes a unique stressor, and newly diagnosed patients often express deep concerns about how their children will adapt to the illness and treatments. Although data on this underserved group of second-order patients is growing, the literature has yielded limited practical information for the clinician working with cancer patients who have children at home. The present study examines long-term adjustment in two samples of grown daughters of cancer patients. Subjects reported having experienced significant emotional upheaval and substantial family disruption during the acute phase of their parents' diagnosis and treatments. Many of the family problems were related to difficulties with the healthy parent. Subjects also recalled numerous positive changes during this acute phase of adjustment to the stressor. Over the long term, subjects did not differ from comparison women on several measures of psychological adjustment, suggesting that children of cancer patients are not necessarily at elevated risk for long-term psychological maladjustment. Nevertheless, many subjects continued to experience a lasting subjective impact of their cancer experiences that appeared to be too subtle or existential to be measured by general psychological instruments. Most of these changes were positive, and deriving a sense of benefit from the experience was a near-universal phenomenon. Subjects discussed what helped and hindered their coping efforts, and made a number of recommendations to others facing this family stressor. Inadequate communication about the cancer was identified by many subjects as an impediment to their eventual adjustment.