Abstract In this article, we test the hypothesis that beliefs about the ideal mother are convergent across cultures and that these beliefs overlap considerably with attachment theory’s notion of... Show moreAbstract In this article, we test the hypothesis that beliefs about the ideal mother are convergent across cultures and that these beliefs overlap considerably with attachment theory’s notion of the sensitive mother. In a sample including 26 cultural groups from 15 countries around the globe, 751 mothers sorted the Maternal Behavior Q-Set to reflect their ideas about the ideal mother. The results show strong convergence between maternal beliefs about the ideal mother and attachment theory’s description of the sensitive mother across groups. Cultural group membership significantly predicted variations in maternal sensitivity belief scores, but this effect was substantially accounted for by group variations in socio-demographic factors. Mothers living in rural versus urban areas, with a low family income, and with more children, were less likely to describe the ideal mother as highly sensitive. Cultural group membership did remain a significant predictor of variations in maternal sensitivity belief scores above and beyond socio-demographic predictors. The findings are discussed in terms of the universal and culture-specific aspects of the sensitivity construct. Show less
Ekmekci, H.; Malda, M.; Yagmur, S.; IJzendoorn, M.H. van; Bakermans-Kranenburg, M.J.; Mesman, J. 2016
Interventions for parents of young children often focus on enhancing parental sensitivity. A cognitivematch on treatment goals has been shown to relate to the quality of the relationship (or... Show moreInterventions for parents of young children often focus on enhancing parental sensitivity. A cognitivematch on treatment goals has been shown to relate to the quality of the relationship (or alliance) between a therapist and the person receiving intervention, which in turn predicts the effectiveness of interventions. However, in multicultural societies therapists and patients do not always share the same ethnic background, which could influence their match on treatment goals. The aim of this study was to test the hypothesis that there is a cognitive match regarding the importance of sensitivity in early childhood parenting across Dutch and Moroccan, Turkish, Surinamese, and Antillean ethnic minority mothers and youth mental health professionals in the Netherlands and Turkish mothers and youth mental health professionals in Turkey. A total of 105 mothers with at least one child between the ages of 6 months and 6 years and 98 female professionals described their views about the ideal sensitive mother using the Maternal Behavior Q-Sort (Pederson et al. in Manual maternal behavior Q-sort version 3.1, 1999). Both professionals' and mothers' beliefs about the ideal mother converged strongly with the concept of sensitivity and within and across cultural groups of mothers and professionals. These findings point to a cognitive match on sensitivity beliefs between mothers and professionals with different cultural backgrounds.Our findings suggest that early childhood parenting interventions focused on enhancing sensitivity fit the beliefs of mothers of young children in different cultural groups. Show less
