Three dimensions in the Parental Identity.

―The Structure of Parental Identity in Mothers of Young Children―

Abstract

　　The purpose of this study was to investigate the structure of parental identity. A new developed parental identity scale was employed in a study of 216 mothers of young children. Factor analysis of the data indicated that the parental identity is composed of three factors, namely, “comprehension ofparental-role”, “self-evaluation of parental-role”, “acceptance of parental-role”.

　　The main findings were as follows: 1) Mothers thinking of themselves as “full-fledged” took higher scores on the scale. 2) Well-educated mothers or mothers with children more than two years registered higher scores in “comprehenshion of parental-role”. 3) Employed mothers and mothers with children under five years scored higher in “acceptance of parental-role”.

　　These findings suggest that every dimension in parental identity will probably change as: a mother's children develop, the mothers themselves develop and/or, the mothers themselves develop and/or various experiences in crease in performing the role of parents.