Sex Differences in Attitude to Parenthood

Abstract

Attitudes to parenthood were explored in prospective adopters and ordinary parents by means of a repertory grid technique. Contentment and mother-hood were more strongly associated in the minds of wives than contentment andfatherhood in the minds of husbands. Men (especially when childless) were likely to associate fatherhood with masculinity, whereas femininity and motherhood were conceptually independent in both groups of women. The findings are interpreted as supporting the concept of traditional differences between male and female viewpoints.