Counseling of voluntarily childless women with different types of perceptions about motherhood

Abstract

The article focuses on the phenomenon of voluntary childlessness in women and the development of advisory techniques for working with this group on motherhood-related issues. This topic acquires particular relevance within the context of the demographic crisis and pronatalist state policy in Russia. The study investigated the socio-psychological characteristics of voluntarily childless women, who are traditionally considered a homogeneous group in scholarly literature, within the framework of different types of perceptions of motherhood. A total of 240 participants took part, including 123 women who expressed an unwavering position and 117 women who expressed the possibility of changing their stance. Various methods were used to collect data on value orientations, moral foundations, social axioms, family dysfunctions, and motives for avoiding motherhood. The types of perceptions of motherhood were identified using P. Verges’ prototypical analysis technique, after which associations belonging to the core domain of social representations were clustered. Six types of perceptions were identified: 1) motherhood as a burden; 2) motherhood as a challenge; 3) motherhood as a trial; 4) motherhood as care; 5) motherhood as a calling; and 6) motherhood as responsibility. The findings confirmed the hypothesis that voluntarily childless women form a heterogeneous group in terms of socio-psychological characteristics within these types of perceptions. Statistically significant differences were found in autonomy ethics, emotion elimination, care, fate control, and the motherhood avoidance motive related to the desire to maintain material wellbeing. Based on the results, a generalized psychological profile of voluntarily childless women from both groups was proposed, along with counseling recommendations aimed at balancing state interests with respect for individual autonomy.