“Psychological Value of Children” and the Mother's Tendency toward Individualization

―Mother's high education and employment―

Abstract

　　The present study focused on “the tendency towards individualization” (i.e., decreasing mothers' feelings of “oneness” with their family members and increasing mothers' orientation for individual).

　　Moreover, it investigated how this tendency towards individualization could change psychological values of children in mothers.

　　A questionnaire was used. Subjects were 292 mothers in their 30's. We asked them as follows: 1. Why have you decided to have children? (It means psychological value ofc hildren) 2. Why have you decided not to have a child in a future? 3. We asked them about the tendency toward individualization.

　　Psychological values of children are grouped in to five factors; emotional value, self-enhancement value, social value, and child care factors including deperidence on the condition and child support system. Tendency toward individualization is grouped into three factors; emotional oneness, economical oneness and sense of independence. Reasons for not having a child are grouped into three factors; economical burden, psychological burden and needs for the time for oneself.

　　Results showed that stronger the mother's tendency toward individualization, the lower the mother's evaluation of the value of a child, and the higher the needs for the time for oneself. College graduate/working mothers showed stronger tendency for individualization, lower evaluation of social value of the child, stronger dependency on the condition and stronger needs for the time for oneself.