The Determinants Of Forming A Valuable Attitude To Maternity Among Female Students

Abstract

At present, the revival of the value attitude to motherhood is perceived as one of the priority national tasks requiring its significant rethinking. Studies show that university students produce a wide range of value positions. Attitude to motherhood contributes to the development of a woman's personal values, value orientations that contribute to the social regulation of her behavior, as well as building relationships with other people. It is shown that more than half of the respondents have a high level of value attitude towards motherhood. The results of the study noted that the majority of these respondents are not ready for maternity. Awareness of the importance of motherhood and its importance in raising a child allows modern girls to adequately assess their own abilities and readiness for the realization of maternal functions. The data obtained in the course of the experiment led to the conclusion that the determinants of the formation of a valuable attitude to motherhood among female students are the psychological acceptance by the mother in the process of maturity and the formation of such value orientations as a happy family life, mental and physical health, love, upbringing, education and responsibility. It is noted that the purposeful development of value orientations which contribute to the formation of a valuable attitude to motherhood among female students will be a powerful incentive in preparing the girl for motherhood and in her personal development.

Keywords: Valuesvalue orientationsmotherhoodvaluable attitude to motherhoodstudentsreadiness for motherhood

Introduction

Value attitude to motherhood as a factor in the formation of a person's personal value structure of a person

One of the important and topical issues of contemporary society is the valuable attitude to motherhood. At present, the revival of the valuable attitude towards motherhood is perceived as one of the prior national tasks demanding a significant rethinking of it. In this connection, a more detailed understanding of the essence of motherhood as a complex phenomenon, connected with the system of spiritual and moral points of the whole society, is necessary.

In the psychology of child-parent relationships the necessity for parents to be aware of the content of their relationship to the child and to themselves as parents is recognized. It is not a coincidence that the concept of "conscious parenting" is increasingly used in the study of the phenomenon of parenthood (Ovcharova, 2008; Ermikhina, 2004; Smirnova, 2006).

According to the position expressed by Ovcharova (2008), conscious parenting is the formation of the views of the father and / or mother about parenthood, as the interaction of parental values, positions, attitudes with respect to the parent's role and to the child, parent feelings and parental behavior which are expressed in the adoption of parental responsibility and harmonious style of family upbringing.

Ermikhina (2004) asserts that motherhood assumes a high degree of awareness of the mother of family values, attitudes, expectations, positions, feelings, parental attitude and responsibility; understanding of oneself, own reactions, motives of parent behavior, family values; understanding of his spouse, his reactions and motives of family behavior; awareness of the sense of parental unity.

The attitude towards motherhood, permeated with a value position in relation to the child, promotes the development of a woman's personal values, values orientations that promote social regulation of her behavior, as well as the building relationships with other people (Evdokimova, 2015). This attitude forms the basis of the creation and upbringing the person's value structure which is a factor of becoming a member of the society. And vice versa, the formation of the value sphere of the individual will contribute to a conscious attitude to motherhood.

In connection with the foregoing, we conducted a research aimed at studying the determinants of the formation of valuable attitude towards motherhood among female students of a pedagogical university.

Sensitivity of the student's age for the formation of a valuable attitude to motherhood

The value sphere as the main structural element of the personality which determines the features and character of the relations of a person with the surrounding reality is the most susceptible to age changes. At each stage of age development, at least elusive, poorly visualized changes in the system of human relations, their preferences, interests take place. However, such relatively small changes are capable of acting as markers of significant changes in the inner plan of man. Existing at the level of the human consciousness, they not only determine his worldview and perception of the world, but also have a significant influence on the subject's position in the world around him. Therefore, the appeal to their study in the context of age transformation seems particularly relevant.

Studies show (Lypanova & Semenova, 2014; Nizovsky, 1995) that high school students develop a wide range of value positions that relate to different aspects of their lives. So, the study of Nizovsky (1995) made it possible to draw up the following list of value priorities of a student: 1) the values of respect, love and kindness to people, first of all to relatives; 2) moral values (do not lie, do not steal, do not torment conscience); 3) orientation towards education (good study, developing intellect); 4) the value of upbringing and self-control; 5) communicative value; 6) organizational value and accuracy; 7) diligence value, etc.

It is also important to consider the valuable attitude to motherhood in the unity of its constituents, which are characterized by a significant subjective basis. The attitude to motherhood is a subjective projection of the sociocultural phenomenon of motherhood on the value-sense sphere of the subject, on the knowledge and ideas received from him, on the experience that has been developed, on the developed facilities, on expectations and readiness for activity.

Thus, the value relation to motherhood is the most important personal education, which testifies to the formation of ideas about the sphere of motherhood and the focus on its realization, the state of emotional readiness for the fulfillment of the functions of the mother, as well as the possession of the necessary skills, abilities and abilities for it (Evdokimova, 2015; Evdokimova, Tkachenko, & Lisitskaya, 2015). The subjectivity of the value aspect of the attitude to parenthood makes it relevant to identify the determinants of its formation.

Problem Statement

In 2017-2018 we conducted a survey among female students of the pedagogical university aimed at studying the student's views on the value of motherhood (Komarova, 2018). The survey involved 159 girls aged 18 to 23 without children. The analysis of the survey results allowed to divide all the girls' representations about motherhood into 5 blocks: a manifestation of love for their children and care for them (37% of respondents (62 people)); responsibility for their child (30% of respondents (57 people)); the birth of a child, the continuation of the human race (11% (18 people)); hard work, difficult job (6% of respondents (8 people)); women's happiness (4% of respondents (6 people). The views on the value of motherhood were also grouped: the value of motherhood is love for children (38% of respondents), the ability to form a child's personality (29%), woman-mother gives life to a new person (26%), maternity has no value (7%). The observation of the survey participants provided additional information about the level of formation of ideas about the value of maternity among students, it was very difficult to implement the reflection of their own ideas for many of them. In this connection, as well as the lack of data on the valuable attitude to motherhood among today's girls who have not yet had children, we decided to study the peculiarities of the valuable attitude towards motherhood among students of the pedagogical university and the identification of the determinants of its formation.

Research Questions

Studying the peculiarities of the relationship of modern girls to maternity contributes to the question of what affects this attitude, which determinants contribute to the emergence of a valuable attitude to this phenomenon.Please replace this text with context of your paper.

Purpose of the Study

1. Investigation of the peculiarities of the valuable attitude to motherhood among female students of the pedagogical university.

2. Studying the determinants influencing the formation of the valuable attitude to motherhood among contemporary girls.

We assume that the attitude of girls to motherhood as a value is influenced by their relationship with their mothers at the stage of maturity as well as the formed terminal values.

The survey involved 83 respondents, 1-2 year students (17-19 years). The study was conducted in 2018-2019. All participants agreed to participate in the study.

Research Methods

Questionnaire "The Value of Parenthood" (Evdokimova, 2015);

Test "Value Orientations" (Rokeach, 1973);

Test "Teenagers about Their Parents" (Mateichik & Rzhichan, 1983)

Findings

At the first stage of the study we used the questionnaire by Evdokimova "The Value of Parenthood". But we considered the attitude not in the bundle of the institute of parenthood, but specifically to maternity. After analyzing the number of female students who gave the highest score, it was revealed that out of 83 respondents 57% believe that this is a gift; 63% believe that it is a conscious step towards the creation of their own family; 70% believe that the child's birth causes happiness, 57% believe it is joy. 53% of the girls believe that motherhood gives a person the opportunity to care for a child, and 67% of respondents believe that after the birth of a child the main thing is his/her health, 64% believe that it is child care. It can be noted that more than a half of respondents have a high level of valuable attitude towards motherhood, they regard positively the phenomenon of motherhood, highly value the birth of a child and understand their responsibility.

But the results of the study (Figure 01 ) showed that most of these respondents were not ready for motherhood, and our survey caught them by surprise. So, when performing the self-assessment of readiness for motherhood, the girls showed the following results: 5% are completely ready, 18% are practically ready, 21% are not ready enough, 31% are practically not ready, 25% are not ready at all

Figure 1: Self-esteem maternity readiness among female students
Self-esteem maternity readiness among female students
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In our opinion, this pattern arises precisely because girls consciously and as a value belong to motherhood. Answering the questions of the test, they plunged deeper into the problem of “Motherhood” and related values.

So, the answer to the question “What knowledge implies effective motherhood?” was: a high level of importance was given to the knowledge about the child health - 60%, child’s psychology - 59%, child’s upbringing - 65%, child’s education - 54%, child’s nutrition - 54%.

The characteristic feature of modern girls is that the majority (16%) of them believe that the mother should build interaction with the child on their own ideas about its correctness, and 39% of respondents consider the demonstration of their own example and the establishment of equal relations to be correct when raising a child. Most (70%) of them take responsibility and mutual understanding (67%). In this regard, a greater number of respondents (71%) believe that the mother should develop responsibility in the child, and good manners will be an indicator of its effectiveness (64%).

Analyzing the results of this survey, it can be noted that the interviewed girls-students assign an important place of responsibility in the performance of maternal duties, which affects the low percentage of readiness for motherhood in most of them. Awareness of the importance of motherhood and its importance in raising a child allows modern girls to adequately assess their own abilities and readiness for the realization of maternal functions.

Making sure that the majority of respondents who participated in our experimental study had a high level of value attitude towards motherhood, we decided to find out which value orientations are characteristic of this group. For this, the method of Rokeach (1973) "Value Orientations" was carried out. We were faced with the task of determining which values are priorities for students who are aware of the importance of the institution of motherhood. In this regard, we carried out an analysis of the values that female students put in 1-3 places out of 18 proposed. The study of instrumental values showed that 34% of subjects in the first place put upbringing, 11% - education, 10% - responsibility, in second place 16% put upbringing, 12% - honesty, 11% - cheerfulness, in the third place - accuracy - 22 %, self-control - 12%, education - 11%.

Thus, the majority of respondents are convinced that the necessary personality traits and a model of action in any situation are education, education, responsibility, honesty, cheerfulness, accuracy and self-control.

After examining the respondents' terminal values (Figure 02 ), we noted that most of the 18 values were made in favor of health, 51% (of which 57% were in first place, 21% were in second, 22% were in third); happy family life - 54% (of which 36% were in the first place, 33% in the second, 31% in the third); love - 27% (of which 59% were in the second place, 41% were in the third place); self confidence - 10% (in the first place - 100%).

Figure 2: Priority terminal values of the female students of a pedagogical university
Priority terminal values of the female students of a pedagogical university
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These results confirm that the goals sought by the majority of respondents who participated in the experiment are happy family life, physical and mental health, love (spiritual and physical intimacy with a loved one) and self-confidence (harmony with oneself, freedom from internal contradictions, doubt).

We would like to note separately the status of the terminal value of the “happiness of others” (well-being, development and improvement of other people). Only 1-3% of the respondents ranked it 1-3 place, and 27% of respondents ranked 18 place. This once again confirms that female students of 17-19 years old are not yet ready for the function of a woman-mother. Even with a high appreciation of its significance, they are not yet ready to put their ideas into practice.

With the help of the questionnaire “Teenagers about Parents” (Mateichik & Rzhichan, 1983) the peculiarities of the educational practice of the respondents’ mothers were identified from the point of view of female students aged 17-19.

The results of the experiment (Figure 03 ) showed that on the “Positive Interest” scale 46% of the respondents rated their relationship with their mother highly, 24% of female students described relationships as highly on two scales - autonomy and positive interest. 16% of the female respondents confirmed relations with their mother only as autonomous. 7% of the respondents noted inconsistency in the educational influences of the mother, and 7% - directivity combined with a positive interest.

Figure 3: The percentage of the respondents’ types of interaction with mother
The percentage of the respondents’ types of interaction with mother
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Thus, 77% of the respondents noted high rates of relations with their mother on the “Positive Interest” scale, that is, female students confirm absolutely positive attitude of mothers towards them, regardless of the initial expectations.

The data obtained during the experiment allow us to conclude that the determinants of the formation of the valuable attitude to motherhood among female students are the psychological acceptance of the mother in the process of growing up and such values as a happy family life, mental and physical health, love, good education, education and responsibility.

But in order to ensure readiness for motherhood among female students, it is necessary to develop a focus on the happiness of others (well-being, improvement and development of other people), since motherhood implies a shift in focus from self to child's personality and care for him.

Conclusion

The value structure of a woman’s personality is one of the main determinants of the formation of her valuable attitude toward motherhood. Nowadays, unfortunately, not every woman consider motherhood as the priority value. In this connection there are childless families, families with irresponsible and cruel mothers. This is promoted, first of all, by the broken relationship of the girl with her mother, as well as the lack of moral valuable orientations.

Meanwhile, the valuable relationship, and later the readiness for motherhood, affects not only the quality of the relationship between the future mother and the child and its importance in shaping his personality, but also on the personal sphere of the woman herself.

In particular, in our study (Tkachenko, Kotova, Lisitskaya, & Nedbaeva, 2015; Tkachenko & Komarova, 2018) the effect of the motherhood on a woman’s use of personal developmental resources of the family was examined. The results of the study showed that the adoption of the role of mother by a woman acts as a powerful potential for the further development of her personality. Skoromnaya (2002) studied the influence of motherhood on the development and self-actualization of a woman’s personality. The data obtained by the researcher made it possible to establish that the formation of readiness for motherhood is associated with the confidence and independence of the individual, a distinct sex-role identification, individually developed active coping strategies, flexibility of behavior and a desire for further development and self-actualization. As a result, motherhood itself can be considered as a powerful potential for a woman’s personal development. Mother’s personal development resources are maintained throughout parenthood.

The student age is sensitive for the formation of the value sphere of the girl. The purposeful development of valuable attitude among female students, value orientations that contribute to the formation of a valuable attitude to motherhood will be a powerful incentive in preparing the girl for motherhood and her personal development.

References

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14 July 2019

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Future Academy

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Psychology, educational psychology, counseling psychology

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Tkachenko*, I., Komarova, K., Semenova, F., Lisitskaya, L., & Evdokimova, E. (2019). The Determinants Of Forming A Valuable Attitude To Maternity Among Female Students. In T. Martsinkovskaya, & V. R. Orestova (Eds.), Psychology of Subculture: Phenomenology and Contemporary Tendencies of Development, vol 64. European Proceedings of Social and Behavioural Sciences (pp. 718-725). Future Academy. https://doi.org/10.15405/epsbs.2019.07.93