California State University, San Bernardino CSUSB ScholarWorks Theses Digitization Project John M. Pfau Library 2007 Early familial misogyny: Its impact on attachment security and later caregiving behaviors Debra Dee Kirtland Follow this and additional works at: https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project Part of the Family, Life Course, and Society Commons, and the Psychology Commons Recommended Citation Kirtland, Debra Dee, "Early familial misogyny: Its impact on attachment security and later caregiving behaviors" (2007). Theses Digitization Project. 3301. https://scholarworks.lib.csusb.edu/etd-project/3301 This Thesis is brought to you for free and open access by the John M. Pfau Library at CSUSB ScholarWorks. It has been accepted for inclusion in Theses Digitization Project by an authorized administrator of CSUSB ScholarWorks. For more information, please contact [email protected]. EARLY FAMILIAL MISOGYNY: ITS IMPACT ON ATTACHMENT SECURITY AND LATER CAREGIVING BEHAVIORS v A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, San Bernardino In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree Master of Arts in Psychology: Child Development by Debra Dee Kirtland June 2007 EARLY FAMILIAL MISOGYNY: ITS IMPACT ON ATTACHMENT SECURITY AND LATER CAREGIVING BEHAVIORS A Thesis Presented to the Faculty of California State University, San Bernardino by Debra Dee Kirtland June 2007 Date ABSTRACT The purpose of the current study was to look at the impact of early misogynistic treatment of females on subsequent attachment security and the quality of the later caregiving of their own children. It was hypothesized that: 1) daughters experiencing misogyny while growing up would develop an insecure attachment withtheir primary caregiver, and 2) daughters who experienced insecure attachment with their mothers (due to experiencing misogyny while growing up) would become mothers who experienced a poorer-quality relationship with their own child. Participants were one hundred fifty-seven females with at least one child between the ages of 3-10 years of age recruited from local colleges and other local community organizations who completed a (self-report) questionnaire comprised of the following scales: the Misogyny Scale (created for use in this study), the Schedule of Sexist Events (Klonoff & Landrine, 1995), the Parental Attachment Questionnaire (Kenny, 1985), the Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (Armsden & Greenberg, 1987), and the Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire-Mother Scale (Rohner, 1978). Results supported the first hypothesis: daughters who experienced higher early misogyny and sexism reported higher feelings iii of insecure attachment between themselves and their primary caregivers. Results showed .some support for the second hypothesis; daughters who experienced insecure attachment with misogyny in their early caregive experience showed a (non-significant) trend toward higher neglect with their own children. One of the strengths of this study was the creation of a misogyny scale which future studies could further validate. In conclusion, the connection between mother's experiences of misogyny and their subsequent parenting practices may offer some insight as to why these mothers exhibit abusive and/or neglectful behaviors toward their children, enabling clinicians to provide more informed and appropriate interventions and treatments. iv ACKNOWLEDGMENTS I am sincerely thankful for all of the encouragement and guidance that Dr. Kamptner has given me along this journey. Her presence in my life has been a great source of support and comfort for me. I would also like to thank my committee members, Dr. Chavez, and Dr. Cowan, for your insight and recommendations. Additionally, I would like to thank my wonderful, supportive, family members who have always believed in me and made me believe in myself as well. All this support has been instrumental in making the completion of this study possible. Discovering causes for child maltreatment is essential if we ever hope to eradicate this behavior. This study has helped me to understand that there is much more work that needs to be done in this field and I welcome the opportunity to continue to enlighten and educate as many adults as I can. Finally, I dedicate this study to my beloved father who was not able to make it to the end of this journey with me but was so proud and so supportive of me all along the way. v TABLE OF CONTENTS ABSTRACT............................................ iii ACKNOWLEDGMENTS ..................................... v LIST OF TABLES...................................... viii LIST OF FIGURES..................................... ix CHAPTER ONE: INTRODUCTION ........................... 1 Misogyny ....................................... 2 Examples of Misogyny ....................... 4 Impact of Misogyny on Subsequent Parenting Behaviors..... ................................. 13 Attachment Theory: Influences on Maternal Caregiving Practices ........................... 14 Summary and Purpose of Study................... 22 Hypothesis 1.............................. 23 Hypothesis 2.............................. 24 CHAPTER TWO: METHOD Participants........................ ........... 26 Materials...................................... 26 Early Misogyny.... ........................ 27 Mother's Early Attachment Experiences ..... 29 Quality of Current Parent-Child Relationship .............................. 32 Background Information .................... 33 Procedure...................................... 34 CHAPTER THREE: RESULTS Preliminary Analyses........................ 35 vi Analyses....................................... 37 Additional Analyses ............................ 42 CHAPTER FOUR: DISCUSSION Introduction ................................... 45 Limitations and Future Research ................ 55 Conclusions.................................... 56 FOOTNOTES........................................... 58 APPENDIX A: MISOGYNY SCALE .......................... 59 APPENDIX B: SCHEDULE OF SEXIST EVENTS SCALE .......... 62 APPENDIX C: PARENTAL ATTACHMENT (MOTHER)SCALE ....... 64 APPENDIX D: INVENTORY OF PARENT AND PEER ATTACHMENT SCALE ........................ 68 APPENDIX E: MOTHER PARENTAL ACCEPTANCE AND REJECTION QUESTIONNAIRE .................. 71 APPENDIX F: BACKGOUND INFORMATION .................... 75 REFERENCES.......................................... 7 8 vii LIST OF TABLES Table 1. Definitions, Means, and Standard Deviations for the Misogyny Scale (MS), Schedule of Sexist Events (SSE), Parental Attachment Questionnaire (PAQ-Mother), Inventory of Parent and Peer Attachment (IPPA), and Parental Acceptance-Rejection Questionnaire-Mother (PARQ-M) Scales ....... 36 Table 2. Correlation Between Early Misogyny/Sexism and Early Attachment Security........... 38 Table 3. Correlation Between Mother's Early Attachment and Subsequent Treatment of Her Child.................................. 40 Table 4. Correlation Between Misogyny and Sexism in Mother's Early Caregiving History and Her Current Treatment of Her Child......... 41 Table 5. Comparison of Low Attachment Security Participants: "High" Misogyny versus "Low" Misogyny Groups on Child Treatment Variables.................................. 42 Table 6. Correlation Between Level of Education of Participant, Father, and Mother and Impact of Misogyny......................... 43 viii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1. Proposed Model ........................... 22 Figure 2. Hypothesis 1............................. 24 Figure 3. Hypothesis 2............................. 24 ix CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION The rising costs of government services (over $11 billion annually) that are available for the protection and welfare of children have prompted in-depth studies over the past several years into the probable causes of child maltreatment in this country (Courtney, 1998; Reynolds & Robertson, 2003; U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, 2002). While research has shown that there are multiple factors associated with the predictability of child neglect and abuse, e.g., the family in which the child is raised, and the influences of the surrounding environment (Belsky, 1993; Cicchetti & Lynch, 1993), this study focuses on how misogyny contributes to the intergenerational transmission of maternal caregiving practices. McCullough and Scherman (1998) and Scales (2002) have determined that the quality of parenting that mothers are able to give to their children is linked to the quality of parenting that they themselves received from their own primary caregivers during their childhoods. The purpose of the current study is to look at the impact of one purported influence on the quality of later maternal caregiving practices, i.e., the early 1 misogynistic treatment,of females in their family-of-origin. Misogyny Misogyny is defined as "hatred of women" (Lexicon, 1988). Behaviors considered misogynistic are those that involve the oppression of women evidenced by acts of denigration and intimidation by men toward women (Dworkin, 1983; Stalker, 2001). Laws (1979) and Stalker (2001), have determined that misogyny is based on a continuum from mild to severe wherein mild is manifested in questions of doubt and unprovoked suspicions of men about women, to severe which includes violent acts against women. The result of misogyny is in the subjugation of women wherein women are controlled by men either by the fear that men have of women or by the desires men project onto women of how they want them to be (Laws, 1979; Stalker,