Expectations of the Stepmother's Role

Abstract

A survey (N = 265) explored stepmothers' perceptions and expectations of their role as a stepmother. A factor analysis of the responses revealed four underlying factors: functional inclusion, parental love, household responsibility, and mother replacement. Stepmothers clearly expected to be included in the functions or workings of the stepfamily, but they did not expect to be the person primarily responsible for the household duties. Stepmothers were even less likely to expect a parental-like love relationship with their stepchildren and adamantly did not expect to replace the stepchild's mother. The strongest predictor of stepmothers' expectations was the amount of time stepmothers spent with their Stepchildren.

Key Words:

• Stepmother
• stepparent
• stepfamily
• stepmother role
• remarriage
• blended families