-
-
Author(s): Grohmann, Anna-Catharina; Quaiser-Pohl, Claudia; Hasselhorn, Marcus
Title: Socio-cultural changes, value and parental well-being. a comparison of Spanish and German mothers
In: Quaiser-Pohl, Claudia; Endepohls-Ulpe, Martina (Hrsg.): Women's choices in Europe: Influence of gender on education, occupational career and family development, Münster: Waxmann, 2012 , S. 167-181
Publication Type: 4. Beiträge in Sammelwerken; Sammelband (keine besondere Kategorie)
Language: Englisch
Keywords: Befragung; Berufstätige Mutter; Deutschland; Eltern; Individualismus; Internationaler Vergleich; Interview; Kind; Kleinkind; Mutter; Spanien; Tradition; Wertvorstellung; Wohlbefinden
Abstract: The birth of a child alters various domains in the lives of women and affects their personal well-being. An important question, therefore, is what factors facilitate transition to parenthood and make motherhood a positive experience. According to the concept of person-environment fit, parental well-being may be explained by a mother's personal value-system and how well it fits within her cultural environment. A cross-cultural approach provides the possibility to account for personal as well as cultural influences. In this study, the values and well-being of 74 Spanish and 31 German mothers of young children were compared. Contrary to expectation, Spanish mothers are as family-oriented as German mothers, but show more approval for individualistic and traditional attitudes. Both groups score equally high on several scales assessing well-being. However, personal values correlate with parental well-being in the German but not the Spanish sample. So, whereas goodness of fit of the personal values and environment accounts for German mothers' well-being, this does not hold true for the Spanish mothers. These results are interpreted to reflect changes in cultural values in Spain and Germany.
DIPF-Departments: Bildung und Entwicklung