자녀 생애주기별 어머니의 행복 조건에 대한 인식 경향

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the differences in maternal perceptions of mothers in regards to the conditions of happiness across the life-cycles of their children. The participants consisted of a total of 961 women who were the mothers of preschool children, school aged children, and adolescents. The mothers completed a questionnaire on the perceptions of the conditions of happiness which consisted of a total of 56 items. The results of this study revealed that mothers in their 20's and 30's, with high levels of education, and on high incomes were more likely to have high expectations regarding most of the conditions of happiness compared to mothers in their 40's and 50's, with lower levels of education, and on low incomes. In addition, the results further revealed that mothers perceived that ‘children grow up well and healthy' as being the most important factor in their happiness regardless of the life cycles of their children. In particular, mothers with younger children tended to give greater priority to a close mother-child relationship in their happiness. However, when mothers' demographic variables were controlled, there were no differences in maternal perceptions of the conditions of happiness across the life-cycles of their children. The implications of parent education and the directions of following research were also discussed.