Current Psychology

https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-021-01880-8

Is it love? The mediating role of traditional motherhood

between maternal warmth and maternal gatekeeping
F. Kubra Aytac 1,2

Accepted: 18 May 2021

# The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Science+Business Media, LLC, part of Springer Nature 2021

Abstract
The aim of the current study is twofold: (a) to examine the relationship between maternal warmth (i.e., mother’s warmth towards
her child) and maternal gate closing (i.e., maternal behaviors and attitudes that may limit father involvement in childrearing)
through the mediating role of traditional motherhood, and (b) to identify cultural aspects of maternal gate closing by considering
family work standards in Turkish middle-class families. A mixed-method design was employed. Two hundred Turkish women
(Mage = 33.04) participated in online surveys (N = 200), and ten women (N = 10) participated in focus groups. Participants
completed a demographic information form and three inventories. The SPSS macro PROCESS with Model 4 was run to test
the hypothesis that the relationship between maternal warmth and maternal gate closing is mediated by traditional motherhood in
survey data. Results revealed that maternal warmth significantly and positively predicted traditional motherhood (B = .45,
SE = .094, p < .001, 95% CI = [.27, .64]), which in turn significantly and positively predicted maternal gate closing (B = .09,
SE = .02, p < .01, 95% CI = [.04, .14]). The indirect association between maternal warmth and maternal gate closing was
significant in positive direction (B = .0420, boot SE = .0023, 95% CI = [.02, .07]). Focus group results revealed that childrearing
tasks were predominantly performed by mothers who want to be first person responsible for these tasks since fathers were
perceived as unskillful or withdrawn. The results highlight the importance of determinants of maternal gate closing for inter-
vention programs targeting coparenting and involvement of fathers in the prenatal and postpartum periods.

Keywords Maternal gatekeeping . Father involvement . Maternal warmth . Traditional motherhood . Gender roles

Introduction regarding childcare and their involvement with children

Despite the increase in women’s participation in the labor
market and paternal involvement in childcare, the primary
source of childcare is still regarded as mothers’ responsibility
while fathers provide the primary source of household income
(Bianchi & Milkie, 2010). Moreover, findings in other studies
(Schoppe-Sullivan et al., 2008) indicate that a mother’s attri-
bution of negative emotions to paternal involvement mediates
between the mother’s belief in the unsatisfying parental role of
the father and the greater restrictive patterns of the mother as
the gatekeeper.
Maternal gatekeeping is defined as the preferences and
struggles of mothers to limit or support the fathers’ role
* F. Kubra Aytac
kubra.aytac@asbu.edu.tr
1
Social Sciences University of Ankara, Ankara, Turkey
2
Middle East Technical University, Ankara, Turkey
(Allen & Hawkins, 1999). Through time, the definition has
evolved around the interaction between parents where
mothers consistently direct controlling, facilitative, and re-
strictive behaviors towards fathers’ involvement with children
(Cannon et al., 2008; Puhlman & Pasley, 2013; Schoppe-
Sullivan et al., 2015). Also, more emphasis on the gate open-
ing role of mothers (i.e., encouraging father involvement via
facilitative behaviors) beside gate closing (i.e., discouraging
father involvement via restrictions and criticisms) has been
made throughout the changing gender roles (Trinder, 2008).
In either way, by controlling their children’s relationship
with other adults, parents have both direct and indirect
impacts on their children in terms of their childrearing
network (Marsiglio et al., 2000).
Several studies indicate the importance of a mother’s role
as the main actor in defining the relationship between a father
and the child as gate-openers; (Coltrane & Arendell, 1996;
Deutsch et al., 1993; Lewis et al., 1981; Marsiglio, 1995)
whereas, particularly among divorced parents, the opposite
appears to be true (Doherty et al., 1998). Nevertheless, the

significance of motherly reinforcement in getting fathers to
engage in childcare is commonly agreed upon by vari-
ous researchers (Braver & O’Connell, 1998; Madden-
Derdich & Leonard, 2000).
Although the abovementioned studies address the relation-
ship between maternal gatekeeping and father involvement,
few studies examine the motivations behind mothers to en-
gage in gatekeeping practices, especially gate closing, as it is
considered to be counting against mothers in the first place.
Considering the positive developmental outcomes of the fa-
ther’s involvement for children (Lamb, 2010; Sarkadi et al.,
2008), exploring the origins of maternal gate closing in
Turkish families is crucial for efforts to increase father in-
volvement. Research on the predictors of maternal gatekeep-
ing focuses mainly on traditional gender attitudes and mater-
nal expectations (Schoppe-Sullivan et al., 2015; Fagan &
Barnett, 2003; Rane & McBride, 2000). In this study, the
traditionally defined aspects of maternal gate closing were
examined with relation to maternal warmth as a part of mater-
nal expectations.
Fagan and Barnett (2003) utilize the concept of social cap-
ital to understand mothers’ perceptions regarding fathers’
family work standards. In their study, the social capital of
fathers refers to their favorable parenting skills and sufficiency
in childcare. Their findings suggest a link between maternal
gatekeeping and fathers’ perceived social capital by mothers.
This finding is confirmed in other studies (Beitel & Parke,
1998; Fagan & Barnett, 2003; Lamb, 1986; Lamb, 2010),
which argue that mothers encourage fathers to be more en-
gaged in childrearing practices when they are perceived as
having greater parenting competence (Newton, 2017).
Considering the traditional roles, a mother’s perception of
low standards regarding a father’s family work has several
aspects. One of these dimensions is addressed as structural
barriers behind women to gather power in any domain apart
from the domestic one. As a result of structural barriers, wom-
en are constrained to the power they accumulate in the domes-
tic area as it is not always possible for the majority of them to
obtain a significant degree of power in the broader society of
Turkey. Thus, women’s definition of themselves tends to be
realized with regard to the power and control they assume
within the domestic domain, as this is thought to be a result
of ‘natural’ processes (LaRossa, 1997).
Despite these structural barriers, women’s participation in
the workforce has been increasing since 1923 with the series
of social reforms regarding women (such as the right to vote in
1934) carried out by Atatürk during the establishment of the
Republic of Turkey. However, work-family conflict continues
to be a leading factor affecting the career development of
women due to expectations based on gender roles (Aycan,
2018; Aycan & Eskin, 2005). Women are expected to main-
tain their responsibilities in each domain (e.g., as a mother,
partner, and daughter) at the same time, even when they have
Curr Psychol
a full-time job (Hall, 1972; Parasuraman et al., 1996).
Therefore, in Turkey, where both traditional and modern
values coexist, especially working mothers experience role
conflict and identity crisis to a certain degree in order to
meet all expectations (Kabasakal et al., 2011). These expecta-
tions are also reflected in the policies regarding parental leave.
While the rights and regulations regarding maternal leave in
Turkey are relatively justifiable with approximately two years
after birth (6 months paid and 18 months unpaid), paternal
leave lags with just one month after birth (Labor Law No.
4857). Therefore, fathers are less involved with their children
during the postnatal period too.
In light of these developments, it can be argued that
Turkish families are still traditional in terms of women’s and
men’s role which have changed little (Kağıtçıbaşı, 1982).
Men’s role as a provider remains with a ‘helper’ role in
childcare and mostly as ‘playmates’ of their children
(İvrendi & Işıkoğlu, 2010; Özgün et al., 2013) while women’s
primary roles are mothering and caring for her partner (Nacak
et al., 2011; Sunar & Fisek, 2005; Şahin & Demiriz, 2014).
Therefore, mothers believe that they are most responsible for
both housework and childcare while the parental role of fa-
thers is regarded as uncommon (Baber & Monaghan, 1988;
Sen et al., 2014) as fathers take on the role of substitutes when
the mothers are unavailable (Sary & Turnip, 2015). It is clear
that the relationship between maternal gate closing and the
traditional motherhood roles in Turkish families is not a one-
way relationship. Hence, the traditional motherhood role is
expected to be one of the predictors of maternal gate closing.
The definition of traditional motherhood positions mothers
within such a framework that mothers are endorsed to estab-
lish the principal bonds based on warmth with their children
depending on two principles: sacrifice and availability to all
family at all times (Spowart et al., 2008). While there is a
consensus over certain aspects of parental love by both
mothers and fathers as primarily unconditional, powerful,
complimentary, and necessitates being a respondent to the
requirements and wishes of the children, maternal warmth is
differentiated from paternal warmth. Lee (2008) defines this
difference as the result of ‘intensive mothering ideology’ by
which mothering is constructed as an activity alone. This ac-
tivity is so sacrosanct that fathers often abdicate their respon-
sibility altogether and leave it to the mothers alone, who are
culturally validated for this activity due to the supposed im-
portance of their dedication to each and every detail in
childcare in their child’s well-being. A traditional mother is
expected to be a gatekeeper as she has high standards of do-
mestic tasks and childcare activities besides the responsibili-
ties arising from social norms. Such maternal warmth
resulting in higher sharing activities is expected to be related
to traditional motherhood roles resulting in higher gate closing
practices in the Turkish context where women have emotional
duties towards other family members (Dion & Dion, 1993).
Curr Psychol
Therefore, maternal warmth is considered as one aspect of the
traditional motherhood role in the Turkish context, which
means the anticipated relationship between maternal warmth
and maternal gate closing is expected to be mediated by tra-
ditionally defined roles of mothers.
The issue of ‘burden of marriage and emotion work’ on
mothers is discussed in several studies (Erickson, 1993;
Helms et al., 2003; Oliker, 1989). The results reveal that ‘fa-
ther work’ performed by mothers is serving as a bridge be-
tween a father’s and their children since mothers are transfer-
ring the daily information regarding children to the fathers and
promoting chances for them to become more involved (Allen
& Hawkins, 1999; Hamer, 1998; Seery & Crowley, 2000).
The prominent point of discussion in these studies is that
mothers are not only responsible for their own emotional duty
towards their children, but that they are also providing nodes
in the network of the family to allow the father and child to be
involved in each other’s lives (Adamsons, 2010). Also, wom-
en are expected to attain more pleasure by completing these
tasks and feel higher accountability with higher standards, and
end up reaffirming and reproducing gender roles (Coltrane,
2000). Therefore, gender stereotypes are expected to be affect-
ing the level of father involvement and mothers’ controlling
role in their involvement.
As few studies examine the motivations behind mothers to
engage in gatekeeping practices in the Turkish context, espe-
cially gate closing, this study is notable with its effort to
understand the underlying factors behind mothers clinging
to traditional roles and their effects on father involvement
within a collectivistic and emotionally interdependent culture
where traditional roles remain intersecting with moderniza-
tion process. In the light of these discussions, the aim of the
current study was twofold: (a) to examine the relationship
between maternal warmth (i.e., mother’s warmth towards
her child) and maternal gate closing through the mediating
role of traditional motherhood, and (b) to identify cultural
aspects of maternal gate closing by considering socially de-
fined aspects of motherhood and fatherhood roles, and family
work standards in Turkish middle-class families. The hypoth-
eses of the study are as follows: (1) Maternal gate closing
scores of mothers are expected to be predicted by the tradi-
tional motherhood scores in the positive direction as the tra-
ditional roles are related to the development of gate closing
attitudes by mothers. (2) Traditional motherhood scores of the
mothers are expected to be predicted by the maternal warmth
scores in the positive direction as higher warmth is associated
with more traditionally defined responsibilities taken by
mothers. (3) The relationship between maternal gate closing
and the maternal warmth construction of mothers is expected
to be mediated by traditional motherhood. (4) The maternal
gate closing practices of mothers are expected to be affected
by gender stereotypes in marriages (the division of labor, the
primary caregiver, etc.).
Method
Participants
Based on G-Power calculations with .10 effect size and .95
power, the required sample size was 132 (N = 132). In the
beginning, 236 women were reached; however, 21 partici-
pants were excluded from the study since they dropped out
the survey after the Demographic Information Form, and 15
participants were excluded with listwise deletion. Thus, 200
participants (N = 200) were recruited for the current study.
Convenience sampling technique was employed.
Participants for the online survey were randomly selected
from various parts of Turkey by distributing surveys through
various social network sites (Facebook and Instagram) and e-
mail groups (school and public institution e-mails). Only adult
women above 18 years old who have at least one child be-
tween the ages of 0 to 5 participated in the current study. Upon
completing the survey, participants were asked whether they
wanted to attend the focus group interviews. Only 15 of the
survey participants agreed to participate in the focus groups,
assigned to two groups referring to their current employment
status and education level as ‘working mothers’ and ‘non-
working mothers’. By using phone contacts and e-mail ad-
dresses provided by participants in their online surveys,
the author contacted these select participants and provid-
ed further information regarding the aim and procedure
of the study. Subsequently, two hundred women partic-
ipated in the online survey (N = 200), and due to drop-
outs, only 10 out of 15 who agreed to participate
(N = 10) attended the focus groups. Participants were
mostly employed (N = 112), living in a metropolis
(N = 117), and the majority of them have a university
degree (N = 119). Also, participants ranged in age from
21 to 52 with a mean age of 33.04 (SD = 5.45). Table 1
presents demographic characteristics of the participants.
Measures
Demographic Information Form
Participants completed a demographic form consisting of
various questions to obtain information about their de-
mographic profile. These questions concerned their age,
occupation, marital status, monthly income, and eco-
nomic status based on their self-positioning among the
options listed in Table 1.
Maternal Gatekeeping Scale
This nine-item scale aims to identify the degree to
which mothers obstruct the relationship between their
children and the father by restricting the fathers’
 Curr Psychol

Table 1 Demographic characteristics of the participants Egna Minnen Beträffande Uppfostran Parent Form (EMBU-P)
Variables N (200 participants) %
The EMBU-P scale is a new form of EMBU, formed to mea-
Education Level of Mother Total: 200 sure a mother’s own child caring attitudes towards their chil-
Primary School 2 1 dren (Castro et al., 1997). In this study, the adapted version of
Secondary School 7 3.5 the EMBU-P was utilized, which measures maternal warmth.
High School 26 13 Its appropriateness and adaptation to a Turkish context were
Vocational High School 10 5 analyzed by Sümer and Güngör (1999). There are 29 items
University 119 59.5 and four categories (emotional warmth, rejection, protection,
Master’s Degree 29 14.5 and comparison) in this shorter version of the scale. The last
Doctoral Degree 7 3.5 subscale ‘comparison’ consisting of five items was designed
Place Mostly Lived Total: 200 by Sümer et al. (2010). In the analysis part of the study, only
Village/Small Town 4 2 the items measuring emotional warmth and protection were
District 13 6.5 used. Participants were asked to rate each item on a 6-point
City 66 33 Likert scale regarding the frequency of doing each item rang-
Metropolis 117 58.5 ing from 1 (never) to 6 (always). The reliability of the scale for
Employment Status Total: 200 the current study was found to be .78.
Employed 112 56
Not employed 88 44 Self-Assessment: The Traditional Motherhood Scale
Marital Status Total: 200
Married and living together 196 98 The scale was designed to measure the degree to which
Married but living separately 2 1 mothers possess traditional motherhood role by questioning
Divorced 1 .5
their views on the characteristics of motherhood, predomi-
Widow 1 .5
nantly with regard to their relationship with children. The
Economic Status Total: 200
application of this scale to individuals from different ethnic
origins is validated by Whatley and Knox, (2005). The scale
Very low 2 1
was translated and adapted to Turkish by Altınbilek (2012) in
Low 4 2
his master’s thesis. The reliability coefficient is .89
Average 141 70.5
(Altınbilek, 2012, p.28). The 18 items were translated into
High 53 26.5
Turkish, which can be exemplified as “A mother knows more
Very high 0 0
about her child, therefore being the better parent” and “A good
mother should stay at home with her children for the first
year”. Each item was rated on a 7-point Likert scale ranging
from 1 (strongly disagree), 4 (neither agree nor disagree) to 7
involvement by gate closing. All items were formed to (strongly agree). The reliability of the scale for the current
ask mothers about their preferences in terms of study was found to be .88.
performing specific childcare duties rather than allowing
the fathers to fulfil these tasks (Fagan & Barnett, 2003, Procedure
p. 1029). These ratings were coded, ranging from 1
(strongly disagree) to 5 (strongly agree). The reliability The ethical permission for both parts of the study was taken
of this test is found to be .93 (Fagan & Barnett, 2003, from the Applied Ethics Research Center of Middle East
p. 1029). The scale was translated into Turkish by Technical University, with protocol number 2017-SOS-181.
Karabulut and Şendil (2017) in Turkish Adaptation of An online survey was designed through Qualtrics Survey
the Maternal Gatekeeping Scale. The reliability score Software (Smith et al., 2005), including a Demographic
of the translated scale is found to be .82. (Karabulut Information Form, Maternal Gatekeeping Scale, EMBU
& Şendil, 2017, p. 696). However, they adapt the items Parent Form, and Self-Assessment: Traditional Motherhood
in the scale to ask these questions to fathers. Therefore, Scale. Participants were able to fill out the forms via their
they measure the perceived maternal gate closing from computers or mobile phones. At the survey’s conclusion,
fathers’ reports. In this study, the questions were orga- participants were asked whether they would participate in
nized by the author to ask mothers to identify the de- the second phase of the study consisting of interviews with
gree to which mothers obstruct the relationship between focus groups. If they agreed, another page was displayed
children and the father. The reliability of the scale for through which they provide their contact information. In the
the current study was found to be .90. study, focus group interviews’ data was considered as a
Curr Psychol
supplementary source of data. Therefore, the design rested
more on a deductive approach as qualitative data was the
component of the larger quantitative data. In this mixed-
method design, focus group interviews aimed to “validate
the findings of quantitative research” (Dilshad & Latif,
2013, p. 193).
Two focus groups, each consisting of five people, were
conducted. In each group, interviews began with small talk
as a means to make participants feel comfortable.
Subsequently, the content and the aim of the study were ex-
plained. The length of the first interview was 80 min, and the
second was 50 min. Overall, the second phase of the study
took two weeks. The themes of the questions were the division
of labor in the house, the childcare responsibilities taken by
mothers and fathers, mothers’ opinions about traditional
motherhood roles and maternal warmth, and their definition
of ideal motherhood. Questions were all open-ended with a
clear focus on the three main variables of the study (maternal
gate closing, maternal warmth, traditional motherhood).
Mothers reported their attitudes and practices upon the inter-
view questions. These questions can be exemplified as “What
do you think about your partner’s involvement with the do-
mestic tasks?”, “Can you describe the feelings you have for
your child?” and “In your opinion, what should be the respon-
sibilities of mothers and fathers towards their children?”
Analysis
Qualitative and quantitative data were analyzed separately.
For the first phase of the study, the compatible version of
the data with SPSS was exported from Qualtrics Survey
Software. The 20th version of the Statistical Package for
Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for the analysis. First, de-
scriptive statistics were analyzed to provide the demographic
characteristics of the sample. Therefore, the analyses of t-test,
correlation, and MANOVA were conducted to examine the
descriptive statistics further. Moreover, mediation analysis
was run to test the hypotheses of the study. The results are
revealed and discussed in the following chapter.
For the analysis of the interviews, steps proposed by
Haregu (2012) were followed. The first step relates to orga-
nizing data. The verbatim transcriptions were made from the
author’s notes and voice recordings. Secondly, all transcrip-
tions were read several times to detect commonalities in the
answers and comments. Also, non-verbal expressions were
considered while taking notes. Later, the data was cleaned
and grouped by structuring and familiarizing. The second step
is identifying a framework both explanatory (guided by the
research question) and exploratory (guided by the data).
Following these steps, a descriptive analysis was made by
ranging the responses in groups and detecting repeated argu-
ments. The final step is second-order analysis, conducted by
remarking the patterns and respondent groups based on
associated arguments. Within this framework, the data was
analyzed to find answers to the research questions and to test
the hypotheses.
Finally, the phenomenological data analysis steps put for-
ward by Kleiman (2004) were followed to analyze data. First,
the verbatim transcriptions were read to develop a holistic
understanding. Then the transcriptions were read again to
group the data into meaningful parts, followed by the process
of reuniting these similar groups. According to Moustakas
(1994), this step consists of “listing every quote relevant to
the experience –horizontalization–” (p.120). Next, through the
free imaginative variation, the findings were elaborated in
terms of their descriptive aspects. Lastly, the raw data was
reanalyzed to see the extent to which it corresponds to our
interpretations and descriptions regarding both the general un-
derstanding and the fundamental meanings. The reason be-
hind employing the phenomenological approach is that it en-
ables to examine the events as experienced by the individual,
rather than as detached reality from subjective aspects (Valle
et al., 1989). Hence, it allows the unfolding of the meanings
behind daily motherhood and gate closing practices of
mothers who participated in focus groups.
Results
Descriptive Statistics
At the beginning of the study, 276 participants were reached;
however, 249 agreed to participate while 31 participants gave
up the study after the first question. During the data screening
process, 18 participants among 218 were excluded from the
analysis since they only answered the sociodemographic
questionnaire. Subsequently, 200 women participated in the
survey (N = 200), and 10 of these women participated in the
focus groups as two groups consisting of five each (N = 10).
The sum of all scores was calculated to assess the overall
scores of each participant for maternal gate closing, traditional
motherhood, and maternal warmth. Considering the mini-
mums and maximums, mothers reported medium scores on
average for maternal gate closing (M = 16.58), and maternal
warmth (M = 53.11), while the mean score for traditional
motherhood (M = 99.13) was high. Table 2 presents the
Table 2 Means, standard deviations, and minimum-maximum
observed scores of the variables in the study
Variable(s) M SD Minimum – Maximum
Maternal Gate Closing 16.58 5.65 9–32
Maternal Warmth 53.11 6.23 32–71
Traditional Motherhood 99.13 17.56 33–126
 Curr Psychol

means, standard deviations, and minimum-maximum scores
observed in the current study for these three variables.
An independent samples t-test was run to examine whether
there were differences in the scores of the variables used in the
study (maternal gate closing, maternal warmth, traditional
motherhood) between currently working and nonworking
mothers as discussed earlier that increase in the employment
of the women was not correlated with decrease their respon-
sibilities toward their children in the previous studies. The
results revealed a statistically significant difference between
the two groups (currently working and not working) regarding
their scores of traditional motherhood (See Table 3 below).
The homogeneity of variances assumption was violated as
assessed by Levene’s Test for Equality of Variances
(p = .77). Nonworking mothers reported higher scores of tra-
ditional motherhood roles (M = 102.9, SD = 14.5) than work-
ing mothers (M = 96.1, SD = 16.5), t(195) = −3.1, p = .002.
Bivariate correlation analysis was conducted to examine the
relationship between the age of mothers, the age of having the
first child, monthly income, and study variables (maternal gate
closing, maternal warmth, traditional motherhood). Correlation
coefficients in Table 4 below indicated a statistically significant
negative association between a mother’s monthly income and
traditional motherhood score (r = −.19, p < .01), which means
higher scores in income result in lower scores in traditional moth-
erhood. However, age and the age of having the first child had no
significant correlation with any other variable, although there
were negative associations between traditional motherhood,
age, and the age of having the first child.
In order to examine the relationship between a mother’s level of
education (primary school, secondary school, high school, voca-
tional high school, college, postgraduate/specialization, doctor’s
degree) and the variables in the study (maternal gate closing, ma-
ternal warmth, traditional motherhood), a one-way multivariate
analysis of variance (MANOVA) was conducted (See Tables 5
and 6 below). Since the cell sizes are not equal, homogeneity of
covariance between groups assumption is tested with the Box’s
Test of Equality of Covariance Matrices. Box’s M (45.1) was
insignificant (p = .116); thus, Wilk’s Lambda test was interpreted.
Table 4 Correlation coefficients between age, age of having first child,
income and study variables
Variable(s) Age Age of having first child Income
Maternal Gate Closing .06 .07 −.08
Maternal Warmth .05 .01 −.05
Traditional Motherhood −.14 −.05 −.19*
*p < .01
Results revealed a statistically significant difference between the
variables in the study and a mother’s education level, F (18,
541) = 1.82, p < .05; Wilk’s Λ = 0.847. Furthermore, the results
of the test’s between-subject effects revealed that there was a sta-
tistically significant difference between levels of education for
traditional motherhood scores. A post-hoc analysis was conducted,
F (6, 193) = 3.92, p = .001. Results of the post-hoc analyses re-
vealed that with traditional motherhood scores, there was a statis-
tically significant relationship between a secondary school degree
and a college degree and between a secondary school degree and a
postgraduate/specialization degree. Mothers with secondary
school degrees (N = 7, M = 117.86, SD = 5.78) reported higher
scores of traditional motherhood than mothers with college de-
grees (N = 10, M = 98.54, SD = 1.40) or postgraduate/
specialization degrees (N = 29, M = 91.43, SD = 2.84), p = .001.
A one-way multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA)
was also conducted to examine the relationship between the
economic status of mothers (very low, low, middle, high, very
high) and the variables in the study (maternal gate closing,
maternal warmth, traditional motherhood). However, no sig-
nificant effect was found.
Table 7 indicates the correlation coefficient scores between
maternal gate closing, maternal warmth, and traditional moth-
erhood. Results of the bivariate correlations revealed that there
was a statistically significant positive association between ma-
ternal gate closing and traditional motherhood (r = .23,
p < .01), meaning that higher scores for maternal gate closing
are associated with higher scores for traditional motherhood.
Moreover, a statistically significant positive association

Table 3 T-test results for employment status of mothers and the variables in the study

Variable(s) Employment status 95% CI for mean difference

Yes No

M SD n M SD n t df

Maternal Gate Closing 16.26 5.4 112 17 5.83 88 −2.33, .85 −.92 198
Maternal Warmth 52.49 6.76 96 53.87 6.55 78 −3.38, .61 −1.36 172
Traditional Motherhood 96.1 16.5 112 102.9 14.5 88 −11.11, −2.48 −3.1* 198

*p < .05
Curr Psychol
Table 5 One-way multivariate analysis of variance of the variables in
the study based on mother’s education level
Variable(s) Wilks’ Lambda F df Error df
Mother’s Education Level 1.818 18 540.715
.847
p < .05
between maternal warmth and traditional motherhood was
revealed by the results (r = .32, p < .01), indicating that higher
scores for maternal warmth were associated with higher scores
for traditional motherhood. Although there existed a negative
relationship between maternal gate closing and maternal
warmth, the correlation between the two was not significant.
Mediation Analysis
A linear regression analysis was conducted to examine wheth-
er maternal warmth predicts maternal gate closing. The model
was not significant, F (1, 198) = .059, p = .808 with an R2 of
.000. Therefore, there was no association between maternal
warmth and maternal gate closing.
Another regression analysis was run to test the relationship
between traditional motherhood and maternal gate closing.
The model was significant, F (1, 198) = 11.10, p < .005 with
an R2 of .053. Therefore, there was a significant positive as-
sociation between maternal gate closing and traditional moth-
erhood. Participants’ predicted maternal gate closing scores
were equal to 8.571 + .081(traditional motherhood scores).1
In order to test the hypothesis that the relationship between
maternal warmth and maternal gate closing is mediated by
traditional motherhood, a mediation analysis was conducted.
PROCESS model (Hayes, 2013) with Model 4 was run. To
examine the indirect effects in the model, 5000 Bootstrapping
(Preacher & Hayes, 2004) was conducted. 95% CI’s exclusion
of zero was taken as the criteria for the significance of the
indirect effects.
Results revealed that maternal warmth significantly and
positively predicted traditional motherhood (path a) (B = .45,
SE = .094, p < .001, 95% CI = [.27, .64]), which in turn sig-
nificantly and positively predicted maternal gate closing (path
b) (B = .09, SE = .02, p < .01, 95% CI = [.04, .14]). The indi-
rect association between maternal warmth and maternal gate
closing was significant in the positive direction (B = .0420,
boot SE = .0023, 95% CI = [.02, .07]). Therefore, traditional
motherhood mediated the relationship between maternal
warmth and maternal gate closing. The direct effect between
1
A multiple linear regression analysis was also conducted to predict maternal
gate closing based on maternal warmth and traditional motherhood. The model
was significant (R2 = .07, F (2, 197) = 7.87, p < .001.), maternal warmth
(β = −.14, p < .05) and traditional motherhood (β = .096, p < .001) signifi-
cantly predicted maternal gatekeeping.
maternal warmth and maternal gate closing was not significant
(path c) (B = −.05, SE = .03, p = .16, 95% CI = [−.12, .02]).
There is a full mediating effect of traditional motherhood be-
tween maternal warmth and maternal gate closing (Fig. 1).
Basing on the t-test analysis results, mediation analysis was
conducted to test the hypothesis that the relationship between
maternal warmth and maternal gate closing is mediated by
traditional motherhood by controlling the employment status
of participants; however, the model was not significant.
Focus Groups
In terms of between-group comparisons of two focus groups, there
were certain discrepancies regarding the demographics of the par-
ticipants. The first group largely consisted of working women, as
three of them were currently working, one was on maternity leave,
and one was doing her master’s degree. Hence, all of them had at
least a high school degree. Partners of the four women were gov-
ernment officials, either in the health sector or the education sector.
This focus group was addressed as the ‘working mothers’ through-
out the chapter. On the other hand, all the women in the second
group were housewives, and only two of them possessed a high
school degree, while the rest of the group only had a primary
school degree. The partners of these mothers were all employed
in the business sector as company owners. This focus group was
addressed as the ‘nonworking mothers’ throughout the chapter
(see Appendix with additional quotations from both groups).
Regarding the division of labor at home, two common
patterns were inferred. Participants in the nonworking mothers
group were uncomfortable with their partners’ helping around
the house and said that they refuse the help because they do
not like the way their partners tidy the house. One of the
participants said: “My husband is willing to help me in house-
hold tasks, but I refuse. A problem arises when a man knows
everything, they do not appreciate women.”
On the other hand, mothers in the working group empha-
sized the importance of their partners’ assistance in domestic
chores and criticized traditional gender roles in a marriage
relationship. These women said that their husbands generally
take responsibility for domestic tasks such as cleaning, tidying
the house, child caring, doing the dishes, but not cooking.
They also added that cooking is something embarrassing for
men. Three of them emphasized that although their husbands
or fathers enjoy cooking, they do not want others to know
about it. A participant argued:
Society is changing. How we value things is changing.
Perhaps this (traditional gender roles) is what they
(men) inherited from their families. It is not easy for
them to adapt suddenly … They either help or do it
themselves, but they should know that they cannot ex-
pect everything from us.

Table 6 Significant univariate
effects for mother’s education Variable(s)
level
Traditional Motherhood
p < .05
Another common comment mothers in the working group
made was the difference between women and men according to
the time spent on housework. They argued that there might be
two reasons for the difference: either their partners’ mothers
perform the household tasks themselves without assistance
from their husbands and maids or because of social/peer pres-
sure. All comments considering the division of labor at home
confirmed the traditional roles, which are somewhat changing.
The summarizing argument of these common ideas is:
If these habits and behaviors are defined as unfavor-
able, it will lead men to be referred to as “henpecked”,
their mothers accept these gender roles and refuse their
assistance, or friends or acquaintances will mock them
for taking part in ‘women’s work’. Men actually desire
to partake in the household chores but fail to do so due
to traditional social codes.
Verbatim transcriptions of the focus group interviews regard-
ing motherization of childcare revealed that the majority of
childcare tasks (feeding, changing nappies, putting down to
sleep, bathing, etc.) were performed by mothers in both
groups, which supports the hypotheses of the study consider-
ing the intensive mothering ideology that encourages mothers
to employ gatekeeper role. The concept of ‘motherization’ is
derived from the study of Mathieu (2016), in which she intro-
duces the ‘demotherization’ of care work as a new conceptual
tool in order to address the transfer of certain responsibilities
of women regarding family work to their partners, parents,
caregivers or the state. The motherization of childcare as a
conceptual tool carries the structural barriers behind mothers
to transfer their responsibilities to their partners, parents, or the
state. It also implies the significant role of motherhood in
social reproduction rather than family as the primary institu-
tion taking care of children by shifting our attention from
familialization to motherization. Mothers in the working
Table 7 Inter-correlations
between the variables in the study Variable(s)
Maternal Gate Closing
Maternal Warmth
Traditional Motherhood
*p < .01
Curr Psychol
Mean Standard Error 95% confidence interval
Lower bound Upper bound
102.26 2.15 98 106.5
group argued that the determinant aspect in this discussion is
the amount of time spent with children, like in the time spent
on housework. They claimed that since mothers spent more
time with their children, especially during the first years fol-
lowing the birth of their children, women should have com-
plete control over the domestic sphere, including childcare,
which is in line with what has been found in the quantitative
part of the study regarding the importance of traditional moth-
erhood role on gate closing practices.
With respect to women doing more household chores, in-
cluding childcare, than men, two repeated ideas in the non-
working group were the ‘nature’ and ‘capacity’ that women
innately possess, enabling them to perform motherhood
duties. Women in this group highlighted the differences be-
tween their personalities as more compassionate, sensitive,
and patient, trustworthy vis-à-vis fathers’ personalities as
more impatient, quick-tempered, and nervous. It can be con-
cluded from the comments about parenting that mothers
defending the traditionally attributed aspects of motherhood
(e.g., sensitive) establish a close relationship between mater-
nal warmth and the responsibility of performing specific
childcare tasks.
Concerning participants’ feelings regarding motherhood
and childrearing in terms of maternal warmth, the most com-
monly repeated expressions in both groups were ‘very differ-
ent’, ‘bond’, ‘responsibility’, ‘excellent’, ‘unconditional love’,
‘inseparable’ and ‘self-devotion’. Regarding self-devotion,
one mother in the working group said:
I have three children, yet I have nothing to define the
feeling of motherhood. It is a complex feeling. It is too
complicated, too hard to describe what motherhood is;
you just love. You tolerate because you have so much
love for your child. It is a feeling with too many mean-
ings. I think it is a feeling only you can define for your-
self. Can it be explained in words? Motherhood is
Maternal gate closing Maternal Warmth Traditional motherhood
1 −.017 .23*
1 .29*
1
Curr Psychol
Traditional
Motherhood
.45**
.093*
Maternal Maternal
Warmth Gate Closing
-.05
Fig. 1 Standardized regression coefficients for the relationship between
maternal warmth and maternal gate closing, mediated by traditional
motherhood. *p < .01, **p < .001
something that makes you understand yourself more
completely. You love so much that you are willing to
sacrifice your whole life for your child. At times, I am
willing to give everything I have, and will ever have, to
give my child what they desire; I do not feel any regret.
When a question about the person mothers approach
for help about childcare tasks in order to understand the
role of extended family members in gatekeeping, in
both groups with the exception of three respondents,
rather than asking their own mothers or mothers-in-
law, mothers preferred to approach their husbands for
help when disciplining a child, due to possible conflicts
concerning the proper way to raise children.
Participants were asked about the difference between hav-
ing a baby girl or a boy to elaborate on possible effects of
gender differences on gate closing. Mothers in both groups
frequently emphasized the differences between the nature
and temperament of boys and girls, which affects the way
parents interact with them. Participants agreed upon that girls
are closer to mothers and take their mothers as role models
while boys are more inclined towards their fathers. Regarding
the physical care of a child, the only difference emphasized
was in changing nappies; fathers do not like changing their
daughter’s nappies because of the father being uncomfortable
with seeing his baby daughter’s intimate area.
When asked to comment on the ‘dos’ and ‘don’ts’ of ideal
motherhood and fatherhood to understand maternal expecta-
tions, two distinct themes emerged in two groups. Four
mothers in the nonworking group identified the ‘don’ts’ to
be violence, particularly physical violence, while the working
group emphasized the ‘dos’ to be the importance of respect
among all family members. A mother in the nonworking
group listed the behaviors that mothers should not do in their
relationship with their children:
Violence, beating… You become too familiar. I wish it
were not this way, but nobody can say that they never
beat or yelled at their child. If they claim that they have
not, they are lying. It is a product of our own life expe-
rience. Due to our husbands, our milieu, and our own
upbringing…
A mother in the working group claimed:
Parenthood needs to be balanced for both the mother
and the father. It must be approached in a balanced way
without giving up on your own life and wearing out the
child. Parents should not make concessions. They must
be patient. The father must accept his share of the re-
sponsibility. They may want to help; yet, instead of
showing affection, they hide their love. Fathers need to
show their love more.
The final part of the interviews focused on the participants’
description of ideal mother and father figures which was ex-
pected to contribute to the assessment of traditional parent-
hood roles and expectations. Participants in the two focus
groups responded with answers in line with the themes men-
tioned above: violence and respect. The nonworking group of
mothers defined the ideal mother and father figures as not
engaging in any form of violence and possessing a great deal
of patience. Working mothers underlining the importance of
respect commonly repeated the words ‘respect’, ‘comfort’,
‘trust’, ‘equality’, ‘sincerity’, and ‘communication’ besides
having control over the child. One mother in the working
group described an ideal mother as:
The ideal mother is not the one who is constantly baby-
ing her child but rather a model guiding her child. If my
child strays from the right path, I would be deeply upset,
and I will tell him that what they are doing is wrong, but,
at the end of the day, they have to make decisions for
themselves.
In conclusion, focus group results revealed that childrearing
tasks were predominantly performed by mothers who want to
be the first person responsible for these tasks since fathers
were perceived as unskillful or withdrawn that they hesitated
to participate due to social pressure concerning traditional
parenthood roles. Hence, mothers were unsatisfied either with
the way household tasks were carried out by the father or the
amount of help they received. Childrearing tasks were also
predominantly performed by mothers mainly for the same
reasons as the domestic tasks. This finding is in line with what
is suggested in the literature regarding the role of expectations
and high standards of mothers in defining the level of father
involvement. In terms of maternal warmth, the sacred and
unconditional aspects of it were highlighted by mothers,
which was thought to be peculiar to motherhood only.
Although there were commonalities between the two focus
groups, between-group comparisons revealed that there were

discrepancies regarding mothers’ gate closing practices and
perceptions towards maternal warmth and traditional mother-
hood, which were based mainly on mothers’ education level
and employment status as found in the quantitative part of the
study and on their relationship with the family of origin.
Discussion
The relationship between the maternal warmth and maternal
gate closing through the mediator role of traditional mother-
hood was examined in relation to the cultural aspects of ma-
ternal gate closing, which is a concept that has been associated
with father involvement in theoretical and empirical terms
(Doherty et al., 1998; Schoppe-Sullivan et al., 2008;
Schoppe-Sullivan et al., 2015). The descriptive statistics of
the study variables (maternal gate closing, maternal warmth,
traditional motherhood) indicate that the overall score for tra-
ditional motherhood is relatively high concerning traditional
gender roles in the family.
This study’s results supported both hypotheses that mater-
nal warmth positively predicts traditional motherhood and tra-
ditional motherhood positively predicts maternal gate closing.
Hence, the more maternal warmth mothers possess, the more
they hold to traditional motherhood attitudes, which, in turn,
results in the higher gate closer mother role. As the responsi-
bility for childcare is highly associated with mothers in the
child’s first years of life, it is not surprising that one aspect
of the traditional motherhood role is having a greater degree of
control over childcare tasks, resulting in more gate closing
practices. It is expected that in such circumstances, fathers
adopt the subsidiary role if mothers are not available
(Deutsch, 2001). It was also found that the relationship be-
tween maternal gate closing and maternal warmth of mothers
is mediated by traditional motherhood. This reveals that gate
closing practices are not a direct and natural outcome of being
an emotionally warm and protective mother, rather results
highlight the importance of Turkey’s social and cultural dy-
namics behind correlations of these dimensions. In the
Turkish context, maternal warmth is considered as a part of
the traditional motherhood role. A traditional mother is ex-
pected to be a gatekeeper as she has high standards of domes-
tic tasks and childcare activities besides the responsibilities
arising from social norms. Even in some studies with
Turkish samples, higher control of mothers over childcare is
associated with higher warmth and acceptance perceived by
the children (see Trommsdorff, 2018). These results are con-
sistent with the theory (Allen & Hawkins, 1999), emphasizing
the crucial role of traditional roles and research indicating that
the primary determinant of maternal gatekeeping is traditional
gender attitudes (e.g., Kulik & Tsoref, 2010).
Both the survey results and focus group discussions sup-
ported the hypothesis that maternal gate closing practices of
Curr Psychol
mothers are expected to be affected by gender stereotypes in
marriages (the division of labor, the primary caregiver, etc.)
since the primary caregivers were the mothers almost for all
cases, and mothers reported that they spent more time on
domestic tasks, including childcare. There is a single aspect
positively predicting traditional motherhood, which is the oc-
cupational status of mothers since women who are currently
not working possess more traditional mothering attitudes
based on traditional gender roles in society. These results are
in cohesion with previous findings reporting the effects of the
traditional understandings and practices on the roles offered to
males and females in the sphere of domestic affairs.
Moreover, as indicated in an earlier study within the Turkish
context (Ecevit et al., 2003), women’s responsibilities regard-
ing housekeeping and childcare do not change even when they
are employed. The division of labor in household tasks and
childcare indicates that traditional gender roles in the Turkish
family remain (Kongar, 1972; Kıray, 1976; Vergin, 1985).
However, what is noteworthy about the findings of the focus
groups is that gate closing practices of mothers in Turkish
context is not only specific to childcare but can also be ob-
served in household tasks, as most of the mothers reported that
they prevent their partners from participating in domestic tasks
regardless of whether their partners were perceived to be un-
skillful or withdrawn.
The emphasis on the ‘nature’ and ‘capacity’ of men as a
justification for the unequal division of labor was common for
both focus groups’ answers. Women defined themselves as
more compassionate, sensitive, patient, elaborative, trustwor-
thy, and their partners as more impatient, quick-tempered, and
nervous. This difference fails to aid us in identifying what
justifies the subordination of women in the Turkish family
context since there is no concrete law that places women in
a subordinate and men in a superordinate position. Biological
facts have little to do with the justification of subordination –
domestic violence or unpaid domestic labor and childcare
provided by women in the family (MacKinnon, 1989;
Rhode, 1997; Debra, 2013). Therefore, a mother’s burden
regarding childcare and domestic labor is an outcome of the
social circumstances and its components, which designates for
the division of labor among partners. This, in turn, affects the
women’s perspectives regarding the competency of men in
terms of various family tasks, and their inclination to
obtaining gate closer parental practices. When the gate is
closed to fathers, mothers may regulate their attitudes to avoid
cognitive dissonance to balance their way of behaving and
traditionally attributed roles, deriving from the attitude change
perspective (Gawronski & Bodenhausen, 2006).
This invisible barrier against fathers is correlated with the
mothers’ efforts to attain acceptance from society by realizing
both traditional roles and the requirements of the current social
context in Turkey. Such intensification of motherhood is as-
sociated with having authority and control over the domestic
Curr Psychol
domain by women themselves in the Turkish cultural setting,
especially regarding the relationship with their mother-in-law.
This relationship displays variability based on the distribution
of power among parties. The most important aspect affecting
this relationship is the birth of a child as a social capital, which
strengthens the position of the mother. A mother-in-law, who
wants to see her grandchild frequently, has a weaker position
in front of her daughter-in-law (Çamoğlu, 2017). Then, it be-
comes an issue of gaining prestige and holding her position for
mother through gatekeeping. The prevalence of such motiva-
tion behind the refusal to share responsibilities of childrearing
can be analyzed as a continuation of traditional roles in a
modernized way in Turkish families.
From this perspective, it can be argued that women in the
Turkish family have the role of “skilled emotional manager”
(Dion & Dion, 1993, p. 61). This depiction of a woman com-
prises an active role in regulating the relationships within the
family, especially with her in-laws. Therefore, besides the
emotional burden women have in the family, this active role
rather than passive compliance can ensure a sort of power in
the extended family setting (Honig & Hershatter, 1988). In
this way, they can restrict the emotional intimacy between
not only the child and the father but also between her partner
and her in-laws. Their behavior may be explained by mothers’
tendency to have an advantage in parenting self-efficacy over
fathers (Hudson et al., 2001). Therefore, mothers hold their
position as ‘expert’ parents while fathers are considered as
‘apprentice’ way before the birth of the first child (Schoppe-
Sullivan et al., 2014).
As observed in focus groups, harsh disciplining methods
were stated as a normalized aspect of the childrearing prac-
tices. This can be interpreted as certain practices in childcare
being culturally accepted norms transferred to caregivers
(whether mothers, fathers or another person) by the culture.
As proposed by the Kağıtçıbaşı (1996) in Model of Family
Change, in Turkey, cultural practices are desideratum in child
development, and family is the most critical mediator between
the culture and the self. Turkish culture, despite the changing
dynamics in terms of family demographics and household
practices, is considered as partially holding the rural/
agricultural values in terms of continuing emotional interde-
pendence and bonding among family members with high
commitment, and clearly defıned roles of men and women
(Bornstein & Güngör, 2013). Such an approach is helpful in
understanding the motivations behind raising more obedient
children via authoritarian parenting.
The final contribution of this study is that the sacred aspect
of motherhood remains as described by the mothers through
words and phrases such as: ‘very different’, ‘bond’, ‘respon-
sibility’, ‘excellent’, ‘unconditional love’, ‘inseparable’ and
‘self-devotion’. It shows that the dignity attributed to mother-
hood to be the ‘mothers of the race’ as their greatest reward
during times of population problems in most parts of the world
can be observed in Turkey with a different background
(Davin, 1978, p.13). The findings of this study contribute to
the existing literature, which states that the welfare state is not
sex-neutral in terms of shaping public policies in a way that
creates mythologies about womanhood and manhood (Boris,
1985). Also, policymakers in the current Turkish government
follow a family-centered social agenda based on defined
motherhood roles (Kaya, 2015; Yılmaz, 2015).
Some limitations must be taken into consideration
while interpreting the results. The sample consists of
mothers from largely the middle and upper-middle class.
By taking one step further in terms of heterogeneity of
the sample, other SES groups might be included in fur-
ther investigations. Another possibility might be that
collecting father reports in future studies might provide
a more holistic approach to the questions investigated.
Also, the data was collected with convenience sampling,
and focus group participants were derived from the
same data, who have agreed to participate in the focus
group interviews. Participants who already have an in-
terest in the topic or considering it important might
agree to participate in the focus groups, which affect
the composition of the groups because of the self-
selection bias. While convenient sampling is the wide-
spread technique in the developmental psychology area
for practical reasons, such as recruitment of more peo-
ple with fewer sources (Jager et al., 2017), it has po-
tential obstacles regarding poor generalizability leading
to estimate bias besides self-selection bias, uncertainty
over the validity of the data and low response rate of
open-ended questions are some disadvantages (Wright,
2017). Hence, more research on this topic with a prob-
ability sampling technique would contribute to the
higher generalizability of the findings. Last but not
least, this study only assesses gate closing practices of
mothers as this was the first study known to measure
maternal gate closing in Turkey. As a follow-up study,
research on gate opening is needed in the same culture
for a holistic understanding of maternal gatekeeping.
To conclude, the current study demonstrates that the rela-
tionship between maternal warmth and maternal gate closing
is mediated by traditional motherhood. The invisible barrier
against fathers is associated with the mothers’ efforts to attain
acceptance from the society by realizing both traditional roles
and the requirements of the current social context, which is
driven by motherization of childcare, rather than a direct and
natural outcome of being an emotionally warm and protective
mother. This is the first study known to demonstrate the rela-
tionship between maternal warmth and traditional mother-
hood with maternal gate closing behavior. Future studies
should delve further into the mechanisms behind this indirect
relationship between warmth and gatekeeping by utilizing a
longitudinal design.
 Curr Psychol

In terms of implications for practice, findings highlight the
importance of determinants of maternal gate closing for inter-
vention programs targeting coparenting and involvement of
fathers in the prenatal and postpartum periods (e.g., Doherty
et al., 1998; Feinberg & Kan, 2008; Hawkins et al., 2008). It
should be considered by practitioners and social policy
makers that working with expectant and new mothers regard-
ing their beliefs and attitudes towards motherhood, tradition-
ally attributed roles, and high fatherhood standards in order to
promote a healthy way of encouraging fathers to involve
more, considering the indisputable role of the fathers in chil-
dren’s development, especially for cultures like Turkey where
traditional parenthood roles remain.
child?
Acknowledgments This article builds on the author’s Master’s thesis,
which was rewarded as the ‘Best Thesis of the Year’ among all
Master’s and doctoral theses submitted in 2018 by the Middle East
Technical University, Ankara, Turkey. The author would like to thank
the supervisor of the study Prof. Dr. Ayşe Ceylan Tokluoğlu, and mothers
for their participation. The data that support the findings of this study are
available on request from the corresponding author. The data are not
publicly available due to their containing information that could compro-
mise the privacy of research participants.
Declarations
are not that much; they do not want to get involved in
their work anyway. (A mother from the working group)
I do not know if he is prone or not because I have never
seen that he did housework. Because his mother is a
very perfect woman, so he thinks all women are. So,
he believes that women should do housework. He saw
it that way from his mother. (A mother from the non-
working group)
What would you think of a mother who does not love her
The factors you are exposed to affect a lot, such as
postpartum. I think it is not right to define motherhood
in one way. Because of my religious beliefs, I may be
approaching differently, but every mother is different. I
think my child is a gift of God and commended to me by
God. Not every mother is the same; not every mother
loves. (A mother from the working group)

Ethics Approval The permission for both parts of the study was taken
from the Applied Ethics Research Center of Middle East Technical
University.
Consent to Participate Prior to participating in the survey and focus
groups, participants had to agree to the Informed Consent Form.
Consent to Publish The participants consented to the submission of the
results of the study to the journal.
Conflict of Interest The author declares that there is no conflict of
interest.
Every mother likes or dislikes differently. Some mothers
have their children unintentionally. Some mothers are
expecting 10 years, living for that child. I am not such a
mother; I am not very self-sacrificing or intend to give
my whole life to her. I love her very much but within
certain limits. The mother who does not love her child
might have her unintentionally or be subjected to vio-
lence. She might have her own reasons. (A mother from
the working group)

APPENDIX
The mother who does not love her child must have
ADDITIONAL QUOTATIONS FROM FOCUS GROUPS
psychological problems. Sometimes we watch bad
examples on the news, such as a mother beating
What do you think about your spouse doing housework?
her child, etc. I cannot believe it personally. They
must have problems; otherwise, it is not possible
for a mother to not love her child. (A mother from
Equality is desired by women but not acceptable to men.
the nonworking group)
Even if both men and women are employed, women
cook after getting back home from work tired. Maybe
Do you think there is a difference in the love you and your
men learn these roles from their families during child-
spouse feel towards your child and the way you show it?
hood, and it is not easy to adapt to new roles. I am
teaching my son to clean and to bake a cake, for exam-
ple. They are not 100% as successful or as prone as
We spend more time with children so we can get angry
women, but it is very important that they take these
sometimes. Mothers are caregiver; dad is like a play-
duties into their agenda. The expectations of women
mate. I do things that my child does not like, such as
Curr Psychol
bathing her or brushing her hair; things I have to do. (A
mother from the working group)
I think it is different because he is a man. Men do the
same as they saw from their father when they were chil-
dren. For example, I believe the father who sees his
child more is more emotionally dependent on his child.
If he is a cold-tempered and traditional person, he def-
initely has paternal authority. My husband loves our
children very much, but the children shy away from
him a little. (A mother from the nonworking group)
It is as if the roles have changed in our home. It is as if
motherhood feelings are more in my husband. He loves
our children more than I. My husband’s father was au-
thoritarian and never showed affection, so my husband
is doing just the opposite. Let them live their childhood,
as we could not. (A mother from the nonworking group)
What do you think a father should not do in his relationship
with his child?
It is necessary to be balanced for both mother and fa-
ther. A balanced approach should be taken without giv-
ing up their own life and wearing the child. He should
not compromise. He must be patient. He does not hug or
kiss much. He should show his love more. These behav-
iors come from his own parents. I think such an ap-
proach is widespread in Turkish society… (A mother
from the working group)
In order for the child to have a good character, the
mother should be a little more authoritative because
fathers can pamper children. Fathers do not spend
much time, so they always want to see the smiling face
of their child. Mother and father should make a joint
decision. It should impose on children that they are
parents, not like friends, but parents. Yes, the child
can come and tell you what he has talked to his friend,
but he should know that you are his parents. (A mother
from the working group)
I think the father should support the mother in all mat-
ters. We certainly could not do this about sleep, food,
study matters. For example, I expect my husband to give
great importance to the mother in the presence of chil-
dren. Because children start to behave in the same way
as the father behaves to their wives. For example, he
does not take me seriously, so children do not too. (A
mother from the nonworking group)
References
Adamsons, K. (2010). Using identity theory to develop a midrange model
of parental gatekeeping and parenting behavior. Journal of Family
Theory & Review, 2(2), 137–148. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1756-
2589.2010.00047.x.
Allen, S. M., & Hawkins, A. J. (1999). Maternal gatekeeping: Mother’s
beliefs and behavior that inhibit greater father involvement in family
work. Journal of Marriage and Family, 61, 199–212.
Altınbilek, E. S. (2012). Geleneksel annelik ve babalık ölçeklerinin
Türkçe’ye çevrilmesi ve geçerlilik-güvenilirlilik çalışması.
Unpublished master’s thesis, Near East University, TRNC.
Aycan, Z. (2018). Türkiye’de meslek sahibi kadınların kariyer gelişimi.
In S. Bekman & A. Aksu-Koç (Eds.), İnsan gelişimi, aile ve kültür:
Farklı bakış açıları (pp. 299–310). Koç Üniversitesi Yayınları.
Aycan, Z., & Eskin, M. (2005). Childcare, spousal, and organizational
support in predicting work-family conflict for females and males in
dual-earner families with preschool schildren. Sex Roles, 53, 453–
471.
Baber, K., & Monaghan, P. (1988). College women’s career and moth-
erhood expectations: New options, old dilemmas. Sex Roles, 19(3–
4), 189–203.
Beitel, A., & Parke, R. (1998). Paternal involvement in infancy: The role
of maternal and paternal attitudes. Journal of Family Psychology,
12(2), 268–288.
Bianchi, S., & Milkie, M. (2010). Work and family research in the first
decade of the 21st century. Journal of Marriage and Family, 72(3),
705–725. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3737.2010.00726.x.
Boris, E. (1985). Regulating industrial homework: The triumph of “sa-
cred motherhood”. The Journal of American History, 71(4), 745–
763. https://doi.org/10.2307/1888502.
Bornstein, M. H., & Güngör, D. (2013). Gelişim biliminin kültür ve
çocuk bakımına düzenleyici prensipler ve süreçler açısından
katkısı. In S. Bekman & A. Aksu-Koç (Eds.), İnsan gelişimi, aile
ve kültür: Farklı bakış açıları (pp. 113–132). Koç Üniversitesi
Yayınları.
Braver, S. L., & O’Connell, D. (1998). Divorced dads: Shattering the
myths. Tarcher/Putnam.
Çamoğlu, D. Y. (2017). Kaynana ne yaptı, gelin ne dedi? İletişim
Yayınları.
Cannon, E. A., Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., Mangelsdorf, S. C., Brown, G. L.,
& Sokolowski, M. S. (2008). Parent characteristics as antecedents of
maternal gatekeeping and fathering behavior. Family Process, 47,
501–519. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1545-5300.2008.00268.x.
Castro, J., Pablo, J., Gomez, J., Arrindel, W. A., & Toro, J. (1997).
Assessing rearing behavior from the perspective of the parents: A
new form of EMBU. Social Psychiatry Psychiatric Epidemiology,
32, 230–235.
Coltrane, S. (2000). Research on household labor: Modeling and measur-
ing the social embeddedness of routine family work. Journal of
Marriage and Family, 62(4), 1208–1233. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.
1741-3737.2000.01208.x.
Coltrane, S., & Arendell, T. (1996). Fathers and Divorce, Fathers and
Divorce. Contemporary Sociology, 25(1), 84.

Davin, A. (1978). Imperialism and motherhood. History Workshop, (5),
9–65. Retrieved from: http://www.jstor.org/stable/428815.
Accessed 14 April 2017.
Debra, S. (2013). Feminist perspectives on reproduction and the family.
The Stanford Encyclopedia of Philosophy. URL: http://plato.
stanford.edu/archives/win2013/entries/feminism-family/. Accessed
14 April 2017.
Deutsch, F. (2001). Equally shared parenting. Current Directions in
Psychological Science, 10(1), 25–28. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-
8721.00107.
Deutsch, F., Lussier, J., & Servis, L. (1993). Husbands at home:
Predictors of paternal participation in childcare and housework.
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65(6), 1154–1166.
Dilshad, R. M., & Latif, M. I. (2013). Focus group interview as a tool for
qualitative research: An analysis. Pakistan Journal of Social
Sciences, 33(1), 191–198.
Dion, K. K., & Dion, K. L. (1993). Individualistic and collectivistic per-
spectives on gender and the cultural context of love and intimacy.
Journal of Social Issues, 49(3), 53–69.
Doherty, W. J., Kouneski, E. F., & Erickson, M. F. (1998). Responsible
fathering: An overview and conceptual framework. Journal of
Marriage and the Family, 60, 277–292.
Ecevit, Y., Gündüz-Hoşgör, A., & Tokluoğlu, C. (2003). Professional
women in computer programming occupations: The case of
Turkey. Career Development International, 8(2), 78–87.
Erickson, R. J. (1993). Reconceptualizing family work: The effect of
emotion work on perceptions of marital quality. Journal of
Marriage and the Family, 55, 888–900.
Fagan, J., & Barnett, M. (2003). The relationship between maternal gate-
keeping, paternal competence, mothers’ attitudes about the father
role, and father involvement. Journal of Family Issues, 24(8),
1020–1043.
Feinberg, M. E., & Kan, M. L. (2008). Establishing family foundations:
Intervention effects on coparenting, parent/infant well-being, and
parent-child relations. Journal of Family Psychology, 22(2), 253–
263. https://doi.org/10.1037/0893-3200.22.2.253.
Gawronski, B., & Bodenhausen, G. V. (2006). Associative and proposi-
tional processes in evaluation: An integrative review of implicit and
explicit attitude change. Psychological Bulletin, 132(5), 692–731.
https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-2909.132.5.692.
Hall, D. T. (1972). A model of coping with role conflict: The role of
behavior of college-educated women. Administrative Science
Quarterly, 17, 471–489.
Hamer, J. F. (1998). What African-American noncustodial fathers say
inhibits and enhances their involvement with children. Western
Journal of Black Studies, 22(2), 117–127.
Haregu, T. (2012). Qualitative data analysis. [online] Slideshare.net.
Available at: Accessed 5 January 2018.
Hawkins, A. J., Marshall, C. M., & Meiners, K. M. (1995). Exploring
wives’ sense of fairness about family work: An initial test of the
distributive justice framework. Journal of Family Issues, 16, 693–
721.
Hawkins, A. J., Lovejoy, K. R., Holmes, E. K., Blanchard, V. L., &
Fawcett, E. (2008). Increasing fathers’ involvement in child care
with a couple-focused intervention during the transition to parent-
hood. Family Relations: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Applied
Family Studies, 57(1), 49–59. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1741-3729.
2007.00482.x.
Hayes, A. F. (2013). Methodology in the social sciences. In Introduction
to mediation, moderation, and conditional process analysis: A re-
gression-based approach. Guilford Press.
Helms, H. M., Crouter, A. C., & McHale, S. M. (2003). Marital quality
and spouses’ marriage work with close friends and each other.
Journal of Marriage and Family, 65, 963–977. https://doi.org/10.
1111/j.1741-3737.2003.00963.x.
Curr Psychol
Honig, E., & Hershatter, G. (1988). Personal voices: Chinese women in
the l980’s. Stanford University Press.
Hudson, D. B., Elek, S. M., & Fleck, M. O. (2001). First-time mothers’
and fathers’ transition to parenthood: Infant care self-efficacy, par-
enting satisfaction, and infant sex. Issues in Comprehensive
Pediatric Nursing, 24, 31–43. https://doi.org/10.1080/
014608601300035580.
İvrendi, A., & Işıkoğlu, N. (2010). A Turkish view on fathers’ involve-
ment in children’s play. Early Childhood Education Journal, 37(6),
519–526.
Jager, J., Putnick, D. L., & Bornstein, M. H. (2017). More than just
convenient: The scientific merits of homogeneous convenience sam-
ples. Monographs of the Society for Research in Child
Development, 82(2), 13–30. https://doi.org/10.1111/mono.12296.
Kabasakal, H., Aycan, Z., Karakaş, F., & Maden, C. (2011). Women in
management in Turkey. In Women in management worldwide (pp.
273–293). Routledge.
Kağıtçıbaşı, Ç. (1982). Sex Roles, Family and Community in Turkey.
Bloomington, Indiana: Indiana University Turkish studies series: 3.
Kağıtçıbaşı, Ç. (1996). Family and human development across cultures.
Lawrence Erlbaum.
Karabulut, H., & Şendil, G. (2017). Annelik bekçiliği ölçeği’nin (ABÖ)
Türkçe’ye uyarlanması. Elektronik Sosyal Bilimler Dergisi, 16(61),
686-699. https://doi.org/10.17755/esosder.304704.
Kaya, A. (2015). Islamisation of Turkey under the AKP rule:
Empowering family, faith and charity. South European Society
and Politics, 20(1), 47–69. https://doi.org/10.1080/13608746.
2014.979031.
Kleiman, S. (2004). Phenomenology: To wonder and search for mean-
ings. Nurse Researcher, 11(4), 7–19.
Kıray, M. (1976). The new roles of mothers: Changing intra-familial
relationships in a small town in Turkey. In J. G. Persitiany (Ed.),
Mediterranean family structure (pp. 261–271). Cambridge
University Press.
Kongar, E. (1972). İzmir de kentsel aile: yapı, akrabalarla ve bürokratik
örgütlerle ilişkiler ve zaman içinde bazı değişme eğilimleri. Türk
Sosyal Bilimler Derneği.
Kulik, L., & Tsoref, H. (2010). The entrance to the maternal garden:
Environmental and personal variables that explain maternal gate-
keeping. Journal of Gender Studies, 19, 263–277. https://doi.org/
10.1080/09589236.2010.494342.
Lamb, M. E. (1986). The fathers role: Applied perspectives. John J.
Wiley.
Lamb, M. E. (2010). How do fathers influence children’s development?
Let me count the ways. In M. E. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in
child development (5th ed., pp. 1–26). John Wiley & Sons, Inc..
LaRossa, R. (1997). The modernization of fatherhood. University of
Chicago Press.
Lee, E. J. (2008). Living with risk in the age of ‘intensive motherhood’:
Maternal identity and infant feeding. Health, Risk & Society, 10(5),
467–477.
Lewis, M., Feiring, C., & Weinraub, M. (1981). The father as a member
of the child’s social network. In M. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the
father in child development. Wiley.
MacKinnon, C. (1989). Toward a feminist theory of the state. Harvard
University Press.
Madden-Derdich, D., & Leonard, S. (2000). Parental role identity and
fathers’ involvement in coparental interaction after divorce: Fathers’
perspectives. Family Relations, 49(3), 311–318.
Marsiglio, W. (1995). Fathers’ diverse life course patterns and roles:
Theory and social interventions. In W. Marsiglio (Ed.),
Fatherhood: Contemporary theory, research, and social policy
(pp. 78–101). Sage.
Marsiglio, W., Amato, P., Day, R. D., & Lamb, M. E. (2000). Scholarship
on fatherhood in the 1990s and beyond. Journal of Marriage and the
Family, 62, 1173–1191.
Curr Psychol
Mathieu, S. (2016). From the defamilialization to the “demotherization”
of care work. Social Politics, 23(4), 576–591.
Moustakas, C. (1994). Phenomenological research methods. Sage
Publications.
Nacak, M., Yagmurlu, B., Durgel, E., & van de Vijver, F. (2011).
Metropol ve Anadolu’da ebeveynlik: Biliş ve davranışlarda şehrin
ve eğitim düzeyinin rolü [Parenting in metropole and Anatolia sam-
ples: The role of residence and education in beliefs and behaviors].
Türk Psikoloji Dergisi, 26(67), 85–104.
Newton, G. (2017). Thoughts on public policy to increase family-based
care and decrease institutional care. Child Abuse & Neglect, 70,
399–401. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chiabu.2017.05.011.
Oliker, S. J. (1989). Best friends and marriage: Exchange among women.
University of California Press.
Özgün, O., Çifti, M. A., & Erden, S. (2013). The meaning of fatherhood
as perceived by Turkish police fathers and their young children.
Educational Research and Reviews, 8(21), 1966–1978.
Parasuraman, S., Purohit, Y. S., & Godshalk, V. M. (1996). Work and
family variables, entrepreneurial career success, and psychological
well-being. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 48, 275–300.
Preacher, K. J., & Hayes, A. F. (2004). SPSS and SAS procedures for
estimating indirect effects in simple mediation models. Behavior
Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 36, 717–731.
https://doi.org/10.3758/BF03206553.
Puhlman, D. J., & Pasley, K. (2013). Rethinking maternal gatekeeping.
Journal of Family Theory & Review, 5, 176–193.
Rane, T. R., & McBride, B. A. (2000). Identity theory as a guide to
understanding fathers’ involvement with their children. Journal of
Family Issues, 21, 347–366. https://doi.org/10.1177/
019251300021003004.
Rhode, D. (1997). Speaking of sex: The denial of gender inequality.
Harvard University Press.
Şahin, H., & Demiriz, S. (2014). Beş altı yaşında çocuğu olan babaların,
babalık rolünü algılamaları ile aile katılım çalışmalarını
gerçekleştirmeleri arasındaki ilişkinin incelenmesi. TSA, 18(1),
273–294.
Sarkadi, A., Kristiansson, R., Oberklaid, F., & Bremberg, S. (2008).
Fathers’ involvement and children’s developmental outcomes: A
systematic review of longitudinal studies. Acta Paediatrica, 97,
153–158. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1651-2227.2007.00572.x.
Sary, M., & Turnip, S. (2015). Attitude difference between fathers and
mothers toward fathers involvement in child rearing activities
among couples with 0-12 months old babies. Community based
study in a primary health care setting. Procedia - Social and
Behavioral Sciences, 190, 92–96. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.
2015.04.921.
Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., Brown, G. L., Cannon, E. A., Mangelsdorf, S. C.,
& Sokolowski, M. S. (2008). Maternal gatekeeping, coparenting
quality, and fathering behavior in families with infants. Journal of
Family Psychology, 22(3), 389–398.
Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., Altenburger, L. E., Settle, T. A., Kamp Dush, C.
M., Sullivan, J. M., & Bower, D. J. (2014). Expectant fathers’ intu-
itive parenting: Associations with parent characteristics and postpar-
tum positive engagement. Infant Mental Health Journal, 35, 409–
421. https://doi.org/10.1002/imhj.21468.
Schoppe-Sullivan, S. J., Altenburger, L. E., Lee, M. A., Bower, D. J., &
Kamp Dush, C. M. (2015). Who are the gatekeepers? Predictors of
maternal gatekeeping. Parenting, 15(3), 166–186. https://doi.org/
10.1080/15295192.2015.1053321.
Seery, B., & Crowley, M. S. (2000). Women’s emotion work in the
family. Journal of Family Issues, 21, 100–127.
Sen, H., Yavuz-Muren, H. M., Yagmurlu, B. (2014) Parenting: The
Turkish context. In: Selin H. (Eds.) Parenting Across Cultures.
Science Across Cultures: The History of Non-Western Science,
Vol. 7. Dordrecht: Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-
7503-9_13.
Smith, S., Smith, R., Smith, J., & Orgill, S. (2005). Qualtrics. Provo,
Utah: Qualtrics.
Spowart, L., Hughson, J., & Shaw, S. (2008). Snowboarding mums carve
out fresh tracks: Resisting traditional motherhood discourse? Annals
of Leisure Research, 11(1–2), 187–204. https://doi.org/10.1080/
11745398.2008.9686792.
Sümer, N., & Güngör, D. (1999). Çocuk yetiştirme stillerinin bağlanma
stilleri, benlik değerlendirmeleri ve yakın ilişkiler üzerindeki etkisi
[the impact of perceived parenting styles on attachment styles, self-
evaluations, and close relationships]. Türk Psikoloji Dergisi, 14, 35–
58.
Sümer, N., Gündoğdu-Aktürk, E., & Helvacı, E. (2010). Anne-baba
tutum ve davranışlarının psikolojik etkileri: Türkiye’de yapılan
çalışmalara toplu bakış. Türk Psikoloji Yazıları, 13(25), 42–59.
Sunar, D., & Fisek, G. (2005). Contemporary Turkish families. In U. P.
Gielen & J. L. Roopnarine (Eds.), Families in global perspective
(pp. 169–183). Pearson.
Trinder, L. (2008). Maternal gate closing and gate opening in postdivorce
families. Journal of Family Issues, 29, 1298–1324. https://doi.org/
10.1177/0192513X08315362.
Trommsdorff, G. (2018). Toplumsal Değişim ve İnsan Gelişimi
Açısından Çocuğun Değeri. In S. Bekman & A. Aksu-Koç (Eds.),
İnsan Gelişimi, Aile ve Kültür (pp. 119–137). Koç Üniversitesi
Yayınları.
Valle, R. S., King, M., & Halling, S. (1989). An introduction to
existentialphenomenological thought in psychology. In R. S. Valle
& S. Halling (Eds.), Existential-phenomenological perspectives in
psychology: Exploring the breadth of human experience (pp. 3–16).
Plenum Press.
Vergin, N. (1985). Social change and the family in Turkey. Current
Anthropology, 26(5), 571–574. https://doi.org/10.1086/203345.
Whatley, M., & Knox, D. (2005). Scales for measuring college student
views of traditional motherhood and fatherhood. College Student
Journal, 39(3), 588–595.
Wright, K. B. (2017). Researching internet-based populations:
Advantages and disadvantages of online survey research, online
questionnaire authoring software packages, and web survey ser-
vices. Journal of Computer-Mediated Communication, 10(3).
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.10836101.2005.tb00259.x.
Yılmaz, Z. (2015). “Strengthening the family” policies in Turkey:
Managing the social question and armoring conservative–
neoliberal populism. Turkish Studies, 16(3), 371–390.
Publisher’s Note Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdic-
tional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.