All joy and less fun: Maternity difficulties and limitations in the perception of Polish mothers.

Abstract

The primary purpose of the research was to verify the concept of Jennifer Senior (2015) by determining the frequency of difficulties and limitations related to motherhood in the population of Polish mothers. They include limitation of mothers' autonomy, sleep deprivation, social isolation, experiencing boredom, and conflicts caused by the child. The secondary purpose was to determine whether these difficulties are underpinned by a cultural stereotype of Polish-Mother-who cares for children and runs the house, is persistent, caring, resourceful, well-organized, hardworking and thoughtful, faithful to her husband, and fulfilled as a mother. It was assumed the degree of identification with the stereotype of the Polish-Mother and the pressure of the environment to reproduce this stereotype may be significant. Seven hundred and sixty mothers with the average age of 32 years and having at least one child aged 1-7 years were surveyed. Two methods were used: the "All Joy and No Fun" Questionnaire (AJNFQ) and the "Beliefs About Polish-Mother" Questionnaire (BM-PQ). The mothers relatively often declared constant thinking about the child, limitation of autonomy, time pressure, and sleep deprivation, but rarely-lack of strength to show love to a partner, loneliness, and getting into quarrels caused by the child. Identification with the Polish-Mother stereotype and pressure felt had little, although significant impact on the difficulties declared by the mothers.