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Development of first‐time mothers' sense of shared identity and integration with other mothers in their neighbourhood
Author(s) -
Seppälä Tuija,
Riikonen Reetta,
Paajanen Paula,
Stevenson Clifford,
Finell Eerika
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
journal of community and applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.042
H-Index - 63
eISSN - 1099-1298
pISSN - 1052-9284
DOI - 10.1002/casp.2592
Subject(s) - disconnection , neighbourhood (mathematics) , psychology , narrative , developmental psychology , social integration , identity (music) , social identity theory , social psychology , social relation , psychology of self , sociology , social group , philosophy , physics , mathematics , political science , anthropology , acoustics , law , mathematical analysis , linguistics
Mothers' social integration with other mothers in the same residential area has been shown to be beneficial for their health and well‐being. The socio‐psychological resources afforded by other mothers aid the transition to motherhood. However, much less is known about the processes whereby mothers integrate with other local mothers. Therefore, we analysed first‐time mothers' experiences of social integration with other mothers in the same neighbourhood. Through three waves of semi‐structured interviews, we followed eight Finnish first‐time mothers' everyday lives for a year. The narrative analysis of these longitudinal interviews revealed three story types – social integration , social exclusion and social disconnection – that depicted mothers' different experiences of integration with other local mothers. The perceived similarity of experiences, goals and interests related to motherhood enhanced the development of a shared sense of identity and supported integration with other local mothers. We discuss our findings in relation to the social identity model of identity change (SIMIC).