219
Views
0
CrossRef citations to date
0
Altmetric
Research Article

Unclear Motherhood: Ambiguity and Role Conflict Among Double Mothers

ORCID Icon

References

  • Arendell, T. (2000). Conceiving and investigating motherhood: The decade’s scholarship. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 62(4), 1192–1207. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2000.01192.x
  • Braun, V., & Clarke, V. (2006). Using thematic analysis in psychology. Qualitative Research in Psychology, 3(2), 77–101. https://doi.org/10.1191/1478088706qp063oa
  • Burke, P. J. (1980). The self: Measurement requirements from an interactionist perspective. Social Psychology Quarterly, 43(1), 18–29. https://doi.org/10.2307/3033745
  • Burke, P. J. (1991). Identity processes and social stress. American Sociological Review, 56(6), 836–849. https://doi.org/10.2307/2096259
  • Burke, P. J. (1996). Social identities and psychosocial stress. In H. B. Kaplan (Ed.), Psychosocial stress: Perspectives on structure, theory, life-course, and methods (pp. 141–174). Academic Press.
  • Burke, P., & Harrod, M. H. (2005). Too much of a good thing? Social Psychology Quarterly, 68(4), 359–374. https://doi.org/10.1177/019027250506800404
  • Burke, P. J., & Reitzes, D. C. (1981). The link between identity and role performance. Social Psychology Quarterly, 44(2), 83–92. https://doi.org/10.2307/3033704
  • Burke, P. J., & Stets, J. E. (1999). Trust and commitment through self-verification. Social Psychology Quarterly, 62(4), 347–366. https://doi.org/10.2307/2695833
  • Burke, P. J., & Stets, J. E. (2009). Identity theory. Oxford University Press.
  • Cherlin, A. (1978). Remarriage as an incomplete institution. The American Journal of Sociology, 84(3), 634–650. https://doi.org/10.1086/226830
  • Church, E. (1999). Who are the people in your family? Stepmothers’ diverse notions of kinship. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 31(1–2), 83–105. https://doi.org/10.1300/J087v31n01_05
  • Doodson, L. J. (2014). Understanding the factors related to stepmother anxiety: A qualitative approach. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 55(8), 645–667. https://doi.org/10.1080/10502556.2014.959111
  • Doodson, L. J., & Davies, A. P. C. (2014). Different challenges, different well-being: A comparison of psychological well-being across stepmothers and biological mothers and across four categories of stepmothers. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 55(1), 49–63. https://doi.org/10.1080/10502556.2013.862094
  • Feijten, P., Boyle, P., Graham, E., & Gayle, V. (2011). Difference in mental health between adults in stepfamilies and ‘first families.’ Centre for Population Change Working Paper Number 10. Economic and Social Research Council. https://core.ac.uk/download/pdf/8748439.pdf
  • Fine, M., Coleman, M., & Ganong, L. H. (1998). Consistency in perceptions of the step-parent role among step-parents, parents, and stepchildren. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 15(6), 810–828. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407598156006
  • Ganong, L. H., & Coleman, M. (1995). The content of mother stereotypes. Sex Roles, 32(7–8), 495–512. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01544185
  • Ganong, L. H., & Coleman, M. (1999). Changing families, changing responsibilities: Family obligations following divorce and remarriage. Erlbaum.
  • Ganong, L. H., & Coleman, M. (2000). Close relationships in remarried families. In C. Hendrick & S. Hendrick (Eds.), Handbook on close relationships (pp. 155–168). Sage.
  • Gates, A. L. (2019). Stepmothers’ coparenting experience with the mother in joint custody stepfamilies. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 60(4), 253–269. https://doi.org/10.1080/10502556.2018.1488124
  • Gillespie, R. (2000). When no means no: Disbelief, disregard, and deviance as discourses of voluntary childlessness. Women’s Studies International Forum, 23(2), 223–234. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-5395(00)00076-5
  • Gillespie, R. (2003). Childfree and feminine: Understanding the gender identity of voluntarily childless women. Gender and Society, 17(1), 122–136. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243202238982
  • Glynn, K., MacLean, H., Forte, T., & Cohen, M. (2009). The association between role overload and women’s mental health. Journal of Women’s Health, 18(2), 217–223. https://doi.org/10.1089/jwh.2007.0783
  • Guzzo, K. B. (2018). Marriage and dissolution among women’s cohabitation: Variations by stepfamily status and shared childbearing. Journal of Family Issues, 39(4), 1108–1136. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X16686136
  • Guzzo, K. B., Hemez, P., Anderson, L., Manning, W., & Brown, S. (2019). Is variation in biological and residential ties to children linked to mothers’ parental stress and perceptions of coparenting? Journal of Family Issues, 40(4), 488–517. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X18812172
  • Hays, S. (1996). The cultural contradictions of motherhood. Yale University Press.
  • Heffernan, V., & Wilgus, G. (2018). Introduction: Imagining motherhood in the twenty-first century—images, representations, constructions. Women: A Cultural Review, 29(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.1080/09574042.2018.1442603
  • Henderson, A., Harmon, S., & Newman, H. (2016). The price mothers pay, even when they are not buying it: Mental health consequences of idealized motherhood. Sex Roles, 74(11–12), 512–526. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11199-015-0534-5
  • Henry, P. J., & McCue, J. (2009). The experience of nonresidential stepmothers. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 50(3), 185–205. https://doi.org/10.1080/10502550902717780
  • Kahn, R. L., Wolfe, D. M., Quinn, R. P., Snoek, J. D., & Rosenthal, R. A. (1964). Organizational stress: Studies in role conflict and ambiguity. John Wiley.
  • Lansford, J. E., Ceballo, R., Abbey, A., & Stewart, A. J. (2001). Does family structure matter? A comparison of adoptive, two-parent biological, single-mother, stepfather, and stepmother households. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 63(3), 840–851. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2001.00840.x
  • Letherby, G. (2002). Childless and bereft?: Stereotypes and realities in relation to ‘voluntary‘ and ‘involuntary‘ childlessness and womanhood. Sociological Inquiry, 72(1), 7–20. https://doi.org/10.1111/1475-682X.00003
  • McQuillan, J., Greil, A. L., Shreffler, K. M., & Tichenor, V. (2008). The importance of motherhood among women in the contemporary United States. Gender & Society, 22(4), 477–496. https://doi.org/10.1177/0891243208319359
  • Miall, C. E., & March, K. (2003). Biological kinship and gendered constructs of parenthood. Adoption Quarterly, 6(4), 7–39. https://doi.org/10.1300/J145v06n04_02
  • Orchard, A. L., & Solberg, K. B. (1999). Expectations of the stepmother’s role. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 31(1–2), 107–123. https://doi.org/10.1300/J087v31n01_06
  • Parker, K. (2011, January 13). A portrait of stepfamilies. Pew Research Center. http://pewresearch.org/pubs/1860/survey-stepfamilies-demographics-opinions
  • Payne, K. K. (2018). Change in the U.S. remarriage rate, 2008 and 2016. National Center for Family and Marriage Research. https://www.bgsu.edu/content/dam/BGSU/college-of-arts-and-sciences/NCFMR/documents/FP/payne-change-remarriage-rate-fp-18-16.pdf
  • Pe ́rez, J. C., & To ́rrens, A. J. (2009). The myth of motherhood and the role of stepmothers: An outlook of women who have delayed their motherhood. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 50(3), 206–219. https://doi.org/10.1080/10502550902717905
  • Pew Research Center. (2015). Parenting in America. https://www.pewresearch.org/social-trends/2015/12/17/1-the-american-family-today/
  • Planitz, J. M., & Feeney, J. A. (2009). Are stepsiblings bad, stepmothers wicked, and stepfathers evil? An assessment of Australian stepfamily stereotypes. Journal of Family Studies, 15(1), 82–97. https://doi.org/10.5172/jfs.327.15.1.82
  • Pritchard, K. M., & Falci, C. (2020). Mental health across motherhood status: An examination of mediating factors. Journal of Family Issues, 41(8), 1083–1111. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513X19885160
  • Pritchard, K. M., & Kort-Butler, L. A. (2014). Multiple motherhoods: The effect of the internalization of motherhood ideals on life satisfaction. In S. L. Blair & J. H. McCormick (Eds.), Family and health: Evolving needs, responsibilities, and experiences (pp. 45–77). Emerald Group Publishing Limited.
  • Renegar, V. R., & Cole, K. K. (2019). “Evil is part of the territory”: Inventing the stepmother in self-help books. Women’s Studies in Communication, 42(4), 511–533. https://doi.org/10.1080/07491409.2019.1660745
  • Sanner, C., & Coleman, M. (2017). (Re)constructing family images: Stepmotherhood before biological motherhood. Journal of Marriage and Family, 79(5), 1462–1477. https://doi.org/10.1111/jomf.12428
  • Shapiro, D., & Stewart, A. J. (2011). Parenting stress, perceived child regard, and depressive symptoms among stepmothers and biological mothers. Family Relations, 60(5), 533–544. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.2011.00665.x
  • Short, L. (2007). Lesbian mothers living well in the context of heterosexism and discrimination: Resources, strategies and legislative change. Feminism & Psychology, 17(1), 57–74. https://doi.org/10.1177/0959353507072912
  • South Dakota Department of Labor & Regulation. (2019). South Dakota workforce eport.https://dlr.sd.gov/lmic/publications/labor_market_reports/workforce_report_2019.pdf
  • Stets, J. E. (2013). Understanding the moral person: Identity, behavior, and emotion. TOPOI: An International Review of Philosophy, 34(2), 441–452. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11245-013-9233-4
  • Stryker, S., & Burke, P. J. (2000). The past, present, and future of an identity theory. Social Psychology Quarterly, 63(4), 284–297. https://doi.org/10.2307/2695840
  • Stryker, S., & Serpe, R. T. (1994). Identity salience and psychological centrality: Equivalent, overlapping, or complementary concepts? Social Psychology Quarterly, 57(1), 16–35. https://doi.org/10.2307/2786972
  • Stykes, B., & Guzzo, K. B. (2015). Remarriage and stepfamilies. National Center for Family & Marriage Research. FP-15-10 https://www.bgsu.edu/content/dam/BGSU/college-of-arts-and-sciences/NCFMR/documents/FP/stykes-guzzo-remarriage-stepfamilies-fp-15-10.pdf
  • Sweeney, M. M. (2010). Remarriage and stepfamilies: Strategic sites for family scholarship in the 21st century. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(3), 667–684. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00724.x
  • Thoits, P. A. (1992). Identity structures and psychological well-being: Gender and marital status comparisons. Social Psychology Quarterly, 55(3), 236–256. https://doi.org/10.2307/2786794
  • Thomas, D. (2020). As family structures change in U.S., a growing share of Americans say it makes no difference. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2020/04/10/as-family-structures-change-in-u-s-a-growing-share-of-americans-say-it-makes-no-difference/
  • U.S. Census Bureau. (2019). South Dakota. QuickFacts. https://www.census.gov/quickfacts/SD
  • U.S. Census Bureau. (2020). Labor Force Participation by Level of Education. https://www.census.gov/library/visualizations/2020/comm/labor-force-by-education.html
  • Visher, E. B., & Visher, J. S. (1979). Stepfamilies: A guide to working with stepparents and stepchildren. Brunner/Mazel.
  • Weaver, S. E., & Coleman, M. (2005). A mothering but not a mother role: A grounded theory study of the nonresidential stepmother role. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 22(4), 447–497. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407505054519
  • Weaver, S. E., & Coleman, M. (2010). Caught in the middle: Mothers in stepfamilies. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 27(3), 305–326. https://doi.org/10.1177/0265407510361729

Reprints and Corporate Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

To request a reprint or corporate permissions for this article, please click on the relevant link below:

Academic Permissions

Please note: Selecting permissions does not provide access to the full text of the article, please see our help page How do I view content?

Obtain permissions instantly via Rightslink by clicking on the button below:

If you are unable to obtain permissions via Rightslink, please complete and submit this Permissions form. For more information, please visit our Permissions help page.