Akademik Veri Yönetim Sistemi
The 32nd International Congress of Psychology, Prag, Çek Cumhuriyeti, 18 - 23 Temmuz 2021
Childbearing is more than a biological gift and it is
a consequence of deliberate decision making process (Bigner, 2010). Even in the
cases of infertility several couples participate in a long and difficult
process, and make an investment to satisfy their wish for children through a
number of fertilization techniques (Colpin et al., 1998). Therefore, conceiving
via assisted reproductive techniques (ART) may have some unique characteristics
in terms of motivational factors. In this study, to provide an understanding of
the motivation for having children, first Turkish adaptation of the Parenthood
Motivation Scale (PMS) was conducted with a sample of pregnant women who
conceived naturally or via ART. PMS was developed by Cassidy and Sintrovani
(2008), and includes six factors: continuity, nurturance, relationship,
identity, social pressure and materialism. As the second aim, the parenthood
motivations of fertile and infertile women were compared. This study consisted
of 457 pregnant women; 272 (59.5%) of them were spontaneously conceived and 185
(40.5%) of them were conceived via ART. Confirmatory factor analysis revealed
that the Turkish version of PMS confirmed six-factor structure. Internal
consistency reliability of the scale was also good (α=.88). When these groups
were compared the results revealed that infertile women had significantly
higher overall parenthood motivation [F(1,450)=14.59, p<.008, partial
η2=.03], and identity [F(1,450)=8.09, p<.008, partial η2=.02] and social
pressure [F(1,450)=19.72, p<.008, partial η2=.04] dimensions of parenthood
motivation. Since Turkish culture has collectivist structure and the extended
family networks were dominant (Kağıtçıbaşı, 2007), the childless women could
feel greater social pressure to become a mother (Cassidy & Sintrovani,
2008). Moreover, due to their childlessness they may feel inadequate (Choi et
al., 2005) and have a desire to fulfill their “decreased” feminine identity. As
a clinical psychologist working on these motivational bases can reduce
childless women’s stress and positively influence their pregnancy and
motherhood.