The nature of the relationship between middle-class adult women's world view and their report of the quality of their adjustment to being single mothers was explored. Single mothers and those from two-parent families completed five instruments assessing their world view and emotional adjustment to being mothers. The many statistically significant findings indicated that, although there was considerable person-to-person variation, single mothers who advocated a more Afrocentric world view—defined as more spiritual, communal, and interpersonal and less achievement-oriented, materialistic, and individualistic than the alternate Eurocentric perspective—had higher self-esteem, less depression and anxiety, and were more satisfied with being mothers. The results also indicated that single mothers were less well adjusted than those from two-parent families.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Aschenbrenner, J. 1978. “Continuities and variations in Black family structure.” In D. B. Shimkinet al. (eds.), The Extended Family in Black Societies. New York: Mouton.
2.
Bachrac, L. L. 1975. Marital Status and Mental Disorder: An Analytic Review. Department of Health, Education and Welfare Publication 75-217. Washington, DC: Government Printing Office.
3.
Beck, A. , C. H. Ward, M. Mendelson, J. E. Mock, and J. K. Erbaugh.1961. “An inventory for measuring depression.”Archives of General Psychiatry4: 53-63.
4.
Billingsley, A. 1968. Black Families in White America. Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Prentice-Hall.
5.
DeFrain, J. and Elrick, R.1981. “Coping as divorced single parents: a comparative study of fathers and mothers.”Family Relations30: 265-274.
6.
Dixon, V. 1976. “World views and research methodology.” In L. Kinget al. (eds.), African Philosophy: Assumptions and Paradigms for Research on Black Persons. Los Angeles: Fanon Center
7.
Fabry, J. J. 1980. “Depression.” In R. H. Woody (ed.), Encyclopedia of Clinical Assessment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
8.
Fine, M. A. , A. I. Schwebel, and L. J. Myers.“Social scientific research into the nature of the Black family.” (unpublished)
9.
Frank, J. D. 1977. Persuasion and Healing. New York: Schocken.
10.
Guttentag, M. S. , S. Salasin, and D. Belle 1980. The Mental Health of Women. New York: Academic.
11.
Harmon, H. H. 1976. Modern Factor Analysis. Chicago: Univ. of Chicago Press.
12.
Hedberg, A. J.1972. “Review of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory.”Professional Psychologist3 (4): 389-390.
13.
Herzog, E. and C. E. Sudia. 1971. Boys in Fatherless Families. Department of Health, Education and Welfare, Office of Child Development.
14.
Hetherington, E. M. , M. Cox, and R. Cox. 1978. “Family interaction and the social, emotional and cognitive development of children following divorce.” Presented at the Symposium on the Family: Setting Priorities, Washington, May 17-20.
15.
Jackson, J. J. 1973. “Family organization and ideology.” In K. S. Miller and R. M. Dreger (eds.), Comparative Studies of Blacks and Whites in the United States. New York: Seminar Press.
16.
Kadushin, A. 1968. Single Parent Adoptions: An Overview and Some Relevant Research. School of Social Work, University of Wisconsin, Madison.
17.
Keith, P. M. and R. B. Schafer.1982. “Comparison of depression among employed single-parent and married women.”J. of Psychology110: 239-247.
18.
LeMasters, E. E. 1970. Parents in Modern America. Homewood, IL: Dorsey.
19.
Mbiti, J. S. 1970. African Religions and Philosophies. New York: Anchor.
20.
Mendes, H. A.1979. “Single parent families: a typology of life styles. Social Work24 (3): 193-200.
21.
Metzger, R. L.1976. A reliability and validity study of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory. J. of Clinical Psychology32 (2): 276-278.
22.
Myers, L. J. 1981. “Oneness: A Black model of psychology of functioning.” Presented at the 14th Annual Convention of the Association of Black Psychologists, Denver, August.
23.
Nichols, E. 1976. The Psychological Aspects of Cultural Differences. World Psychiatric Association, Ibadan, Nigeria.
24.
Nobles, W. W.1978. “Toward an empirical and theoretical framework for defining Black families.”J. of Marriage and the Family (November) 679-688.
25.
Peters, M. and C. Deford. 1978. “The solo mother.” In R. Staples (ed.), The Black Family: Essays and Studies. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
26.
Pett, M. G.1980. “Predictors of satisfactory social adjustment of divorced single parents.”J. of Divorce5 (3): 1-3.
27.
Radloff, L. S. and D. S. Rae.1979. “Susceptibility and precipitating factors in depression: sex differences and similarities.”J. of Abnormal Psychology88: 174-181.
28.
Rosenberg, M. 1965. Society and the Adolescent Self-Image. Princeton, NJ: Princeton Univ. Press.
29.
Rummel, R. J. 1970. Applied Factor Analysis. Evanston, IL: Northwestern Univ. Press.
30.
Schwab, J. J. , M. R. Bialow, R. S. Clemmons, P. Martin, and C. Holzer.1967. “The Beck Depression Inventory with medical inpatients.”Acta Psychiatria Scandia43: 255-266.
31.
Smith, M. J.1980a. “The social consequences of single parenthood: a longitudinal perspective.”Family Relations29: 75-81.
32.
Smith, M. J.1980b. “Economic conditions in single parent families: a longitudinal perspective.”Social Work Research and Abstracts16 (2): 20-24.
33.
Spielberger, C. D. , R. L. Gorsuch, and R. E. Luschene. 1970. Manual for the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Self-Evaluation Questionnaire). Palo Alto, CA: Consulting Psychologists Press.
34.
Staples, R. 1976. Introduction to Black Sociology. New York: McGraw-Hill.
35.
U. S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census. 1980. “Households and Families, by Type: March 1980 (Advance Report, Series P-20, Current Population Reports, 357.
36.
Verzaro, M. and C. B. Hennon.1980. Single parent families: myth and reality.”J. of Home Economics72 (3): 31-33.
37.
Vickery, C.1978. “Economics and the single mother family.”Public Welfare36 (1): 18-21.
38.
Weiss, R. S. 1975. Marital Separation. New York: Basic Books.
39.
Weiss, R. S. 1979. Going It Alone. New York: Basic Books.
40.
Woody, R. H. 1980. Encyclopedia of Clinical Assessment. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
41.
Wylie, R. C. 1974. The Self-Concept: A Review of Methodological Considerations and Measuring Instruments, Vol. 4. Lincoln, NE: Univ. of Nebraska Press.
