maternal instincts

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Is maternal instinct natural in a psychologist's world?

-- Amanda Jones (AJ3116@aol.com), October 16, 2001

Answers

I'm guessing you mean to ask whether "maternal instinct" is a phrase psychologists use as a technical term. Not very much, to my knowledge. "Instinct" is a very loose term that doesn't have much currency anymore because of past abuses. You may find, however, that ethologists and evolutionary psychologists include related ideas in their discussions.

-- Christopher Green (christo@yorku.ca), October 18, 2001.

I would like t know what the differences are between motherhood and maternity? Motherhood, as i look at it is the years during which your child is alive and you bring them up. Maternity is the feeling that comes with giving birth to a child. Is it deeper than this?

-- jo (powellygirl@hotmail.com), January 29, 2002.

Regarding motherhood vs maternity:

An interesting question. I'm not sure anyone in the literature makes a distinction of this sort, but you might find answers to some of your question in the literature on child development and object relations theory. What you might look at is the work of D[onald] W [oods] Winnicott (1896-1971). You'll find introductory articles on him in any dictionary or encyclopedia of psychology. Winnicott introduced a number of important ideas into the literature on child development. For example, his idea of PRIMARY MATERNAL PREOCCUPATION, which is the mother's attitude of empathy with and absorption in her child. And the idea of GOOD ENOUGH MOTHERING, which refers to the kind of mothering that is empathic while also introducing appropriate frustration. An excellent source for Winnicott's ideas is The language of Winnicott: a dictionary and guide to understanding his work by Jan Abram & Harry Karnac (Northvale, NJ: J. Aronson, 1996)

-- Hendrika Vande Kemp (hendrika@earthlink.net), January 29, 2002.


I think that motherhood is the time fom which your child is born and it includes all of the time spent together with your child teaching them new things and taking care of the baby whereas maternity is the time you spend with the baby while it is inside of you

-- Callista Meyer (hottkat@hotmail.com), January 19, 2003.

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