Fathering vs. mothering in fostering psychological strengths among adolescents

Pages: 726-728
Punam Midha and Geetanjali (Department of Psychology, Maharshi Dayanand University, Haryana)

Fathering/Mothering refers to a privilege or responsibility of mother and father together or independently to prepare the child for society and culture with a purpose to provide them with ample opportunity to find roots, continuity and sense of belongingness. Though both mother and father are the builders of psychological assets, adolescents’ perception of mother differ significantly from that of their father. Therefore, the present study was designed to explore the role of mother/father separately in developing hope, self-confidence and inspiration among adolescents. A purposive sample of 200 adolescents both male and female of 17-22 years old was drawn from Rohtak city, Haryana. A correlational analysis was carried out to find the relationship between mothering/fathering and the psychological growth. The findings reveal an almost similar influence of mothering/fathering on the psychological strengths under study. Results indicate the enhancing effect of mothering/fathering on hope and inspiration and its failure in fostering self-confidence.