Date of Graduation
1991
Document Type
Dissertation/Thesis
Abstract
The focus of this qualitative, descriptive study was to explore how mid-life women describe their upbringing and how they experience their present-day relationships. Four mid-life, Caucasian, Protestant, married, professional women in their thirties, from a rural area in a mid-Atlantic state, took part in the study. They took part in an in-depth structured interview and also completed Rohner's Parental-Acceptance Rejection Questionnaire and Personality Assessment Questionnaire. Informants reported being influenced by their parents' value of childrearing and achievement. Role models other than caregivers were significant influences. They viewed themselves as caregivers and as "pursuers" in intimate relationship, but all informants expressed concerns about not giving enough in their marital and parenting roles. Each woman during adulthood had experienced changes in self-identity related to becoming more responsive to her own needs and desires. Personal crises impacted perception of life's meaning. Results were discussed referencing object relations literature about idealization and mirroring, Jungian theory regarding mid-life transition, Napier's family dynamics literature, women's developmental literature, and Rohner's theory of parental acceptance-rejection.
Recommended Citation
Ostendorf, Suanne Marie, "A study of the relationship between women's perceptions of how they were parented and their development of intimate relationships." (1991). Graduate Theses, Dissertations, and Problem Reports. 9540.
https://researchrepository.wvu.edu/etd/9540