Personality Differences between One-Time and Recidivist Unwed Mothers

Summary

Social science literature reveals the consistent recurrence of illegitimacy and attendant social problems. Various explanations have been posited, but this study chose to focus on personality traits of one-time and recidivist unwed mothers. The MMPI was given to 37 unwed mothers, 21 one-time, and 16 recidivists. These two groups were compared with a normal group of girls. The recidivist group differed significantly from the norm group on eight scales: F, D, Hy, Pd, Pa, Pt, Sc, and Ma; the one-time unwed mother group differed from the norm group significantly on four scales: F, Pd, Sc, and Ma. The recidivist group differed from the one-time group in the direction of less adjustment of five scales: Pd, Pa, Pt, Sc, and Es.