Atitudes of mothers of early and preschool children about intensive motherhood

Suvremeni ideal dobrog roditeljstva uključuje intenzivnu roditeljsku pažnja kao ključ razvoja dobrih psiholoških, socijalnih i obrazovnih ishoda kod djece, posebno u njihovim ranim godinama. Majčinska se uloga tijekom povijesti mijenjala, no majčinstvo se uglavnom smatralo jednom od najvažnijih uloga u životu žena, a posebno se to smatra danas. Intenzivno majčinstvo je ideal suvremenog majčinstva koji pretpostavlja da majka sve svoje vrijeme ulaže o odgoj svoje djece. Ovaj rad se bavi pitanjem u kojoj mjeri majke djece rane i predškolske dobi čija djeca polaze vrtić podržavaju pojedine segmente ideala intenzivnog majčinstva. U tu svrhu je provedeno kvantitativno istraživanje (N= 181), u kojem je korištena metoda ankete. Pomoću anketnog upitnika ispitani su stavovi majki djece rane i predškolske dobi o idealu intenzivnog majčinstva, te njihove prakse majčinstva. Zanimalo nas je jesu li stavovi i prakse majki u skladu s trendom povećanja i intenziviranje brige o djeci koji se događa u suvremenim društvima. Rezultati su pokazali postoje razlike u stavovima majki o intenzivnom majčinstvu ovisno o razini obrazovanja majki. Rezultati vezani za prakse majki su također pokazali da postoje razlike u praksama majki ovisno o njenoj dobi, razini obrazovanja partnera, načina donošenja odluka u obitelji i sredini kojoj pripadaju. Analiza rezultata je također pokazala značajan jaz između stavova o intenzivnim majčinskim praksama, koje majke uglavnom ne podržavaju, i stvarnim praksama koje majke provode u odgoju svoje djece, koje pokazuju upravo prakse intenzivnog majčinstva. Sveukupna analiza je pokazala da su aktivnosti brige i njege djeteta još uvijek dominantno majčine aktivnosti.Contemporary expectations of good pareting include intensuve parental attention as the key to developing good psychological, social and educational outcomes in children, especially in their early years. The mother´s role has developed and changed throughout history, but motherhood was generally considered one of the most important roles in women`s lives, especially today it is considered the emergence of the ideal of intensive motherhood. Intensive motherhood is the ideal of modern motherhood, which means that the mother invests all her time in raising her children. This papre deals with the queation to what extent mothers of children of early and preshool age whose children attend kindergarten support certain segments of the ideal of intensive motherhood. For this purpose, a quantitative study was conducted with mothers (N=181), in which the questionnaire method was used to examine the attitudes of mothers of early and preschool children about the ideal of intensive motherhood. Using a questionnaaire, the attitudes of mothers of early and preshool children about the ideal of intensive motherhood and their practices of motherhood were examined. We were interested in wheather the attitudes and practices of mothers are in line with the trtend of increasing and intensifying child care that occurs in modern societies. The results showed that there are differences in mothers` attitudes about intensive motherhood depending on mothers` level of education. The results related to mothers` practices also showed that there are differences in mothers` practices depending on their age, the level of education od their partners, the way of making decisions in the family or the environment they belong to. The analysis of the results also shows that there is a significant gap between attitudes about intensive mothering practices, which mothers generally do not support, and the actual practices that mothers carry out in raising their children, which show exactly the practices of intensive mothering. The overall analysis showed that child care activities are still predominantly maternal activities