Haorongbam Iris Chanu and Asem Babina Devi
Manipur University, Canchipur, Imphal, Manipur.
Pages: 211-216
Maternal adjustment plays a critical role in adolescents’ psychological, emotional,
and social development. The interplay of family dynamics and gendered socialization
process is considerably important in shaping the adolescents’ perception of maternal
adjustment. The present study explores gender-based differences in adolescents’
perception of maternal adjustment using a qualitative design. Semi-structured interviews
were conducted with 30 adolescent boys and girls (aged 13-18 years), identifying key
thematic differences in how adolescents perceive, understand, evaluate, and interpret
the adjustment of their mothers. The findings of the study revealed that gender
significantly influence the expectations of mothers; female adolescents interpreted a
well-adjusted mother through the lens of emotional availability and responsiveness to
the emotions of others, while the male adolescents identified a well-adjusted mother to
be pragmatic, structural and behaviorally. The study contributes to developmental
psychology and gender studies by offering nuanced insights into adolescent–mother
relationships within a socio-cultural context.