Brazilian mothers' description of their children: dimensions of autonomy and relatedness

Abstract

Development of the self is oriented according to cultural models, such as: interdependent, independent, and autonomous-related. This study aimed to investigate how Brazilian mothers describe their children and the presence of autonomy and relatedness in their descriptions. Ninety-four mothers with children with ages ranging from 17 to 22 months were interviewed. The results indicate that mothers valued children being intelligent, active, loving and caring. Children were described with more positive than negative temperament characteristics. No significant difference was observed between the proportion of descriptors in the Independence and Relatedness category. This indicates a tendency towards an autonomous-related model, corroborating evidence of previous Brazilian studies. The present study brings evidence to socialization trajectories of Brazilian mothers and contributes to the literature on parental beliefs.