Maternal Expectation and the Mother-Child Interaction

Abstract

Maternal expectancies and their effect on the interaction between mothers and daughters and mothers and sons were studied in 74 mother-child pairs. Analysis indicated that expectancy is not a unitary concept that can always be measured in one way and that there is a different quality of relationship between mothers and their daughters and between mothers and their sons. These sex differences involve both present and future expectations and are expressed by different behavior on the part of mothers towards their sons and daughters.