A purposive sample of 34 lesbian and 47 traditional mothers was located in the Denver-Fort Collins area. This pilot study was designed to determine if statistically significant differences existed between the two groups of mothers on measures of maternal attitude and self-concept. The Adult Response to Child Behavior, a set of slides of children's behaviors and set responses, provided an indicator of adult-, task-, and child-centered attitudes. Three personality aggregates, self-confidence, dominance, and nurturance, were computed from responses to the Adjective Checklist, a 300-item self-administered, self-evaluative instrument. Chi-square analyses confirmed that: there is no difference in response to children's behavior by lesbian and traditional mothers nor in self-concept of lesbian and traditional mothers. This conclusion can be generalized only to the subjects and instruments used in the present study. Further research is needed to provide a data base on interaction of lesbian mothers and children. It seems probable that lesbian and traditional mothers are more similar than different in maternal attitudes and self-concept.

This study empirically examines the cultural meanings of parental and nonparental roles. A multivariate regression analysis was used to determine the influence of generational group, family size, and place of residence on ratings of personality traits for each role by 57 mother‐ daughter pairs. Respondents perceived the nonparental role very differently from the parental role with generational group emerging as the main driver variable. The findings of this study strongly suggest that parental role stereotyping does not occur in a simple bivariate manner but results from the interplay of several factors.

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