Differential social evaluation of pregnant teens, teen mothers and teen fathers by university students

Abstract

Youth may be particularly attuned to social evaluation during the teen years with implications for physical and mental health. Negative attitudes and stereotypes constitute an important type of social evaluative threat. Pregnant and parenting teens not only encounter challenges associated with their early transition to parenthood, but also are confronted with unfavourable attitudes of others. A university sample of 255 men and women responded to surveys targeting their feelings and beliefs about pregnant teens, teen mothers and teen fathers. Teen mothers were generally perceived more positively than pregnant teens who were perceived more positively compared to teen fathers. Social evaluations were generally unrelated to respondents' sex or race, but respondents who had contact with a friend or family member who had experienced a teen pregnancy were selectively more positive, as were freshmen compared to seniors. Risks attributed to early childbearing may be exacerbated by negative social evaluations.

Applying the Theory of Reasoned Action to Understanding Teen Pregnancy with American Indian Communities

“…This is possibly because mothers have to physically carry the child, and also because society often judges women more harshly surrounding the topic of sexuality (Carpenter, 2005). This finding is significant as it is in contrast with findings in a majority white and black population which found that teen mothers were perceived more positively than teen fathers (Weed & Nicholson, 2015). The disparity in judgment emphasizes the need for additional support during pregnancy, especially for teen mothers, as negative stigmatization can interfere with both mother and child well-being (SmithBattle, 2013; Somerville, 2013).…”

Intersecting identities: How race and age influence perceptions of mothers

“…Adolescent mothers were perceived as having less positive internal and parenting characteristics and more anti‐social behaviour than adult mothers. Compared to adult mothers, they were perceived less favourably across all domains; a finding consistent with attitudes in the United States (Weed & Nicholson, ). Further, participants expressed less positive emotions towards adolescent mothers, though there were no differences for negative emotions.…”

“…Overall evaluations of the target mother were measured using a feelings thermometer. Participants rated their feelings towards the target on a scale from 0 (very cold/unfavourable) to 100 (very warm/favourable; Weed & Nicholson, ).…”

“…Stereotypical parenting traits of the target mother were assessed with semantic differentials. Sixteen bipolar adjective items were presented at opposite poles of a 7‐point scale (Weed & Nicholson, ). The items measure three sub‐scales: “Positive parenting characteristics” (Involved/Uninvolved, Nurturing/Neglectful, Warm/Cold, Loving/ Hostile), “Maturity” (Responsible/Irresponsible, Sensible/ Foolish, Mature/Immature, Competent/Clueless), and “Prosocial Behaviour” (Immoral/ Moral, Promiscuous/ Faithful, Rude/ Respectful, Delinquent/Law‐abiding).…”

“…Eshbaugh () and Kim, Burke, Sloan, and Barnett () found university students held an overall favourable attitude towards adolescent mothers on a newly developed scale (positivity towards teen mothers: PTTM) but did not compare attitudes to other parents or use broader attitudinal measures. Weed and Nicholson () found their sample of university participants held negative attitudes towards adolescent mothers when rating them on broader attitudinal measures (semantic differentials task and a feelings thermometer) and that adolescent mothers were rated more negatively across a range of attributes when compared to adult mothers. There are no published studies investigating Australians' attitudes towards adolescent mothers.…”