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Birthmother Perceptions of the Psychologically Present Adopted Child: Adoption Openness and Boundary Ambiguity *
Author(s) -
Fravel Deborah Lewis,
McRoy Ruth G.,
Grotevant Harold D.
Publication year - 2000
Publication title -
family relations
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.772
H-Index - 87
eISSN - 1741-3729
pISSN - 0197-6664
DOI - 10.1111/j.1741-3729.2000.00425.x
Subject(s) - openness to experience , ambiguity , salient , psychology , social psychology , perception , valence (chemistry) , developmental psychology , political science , computer science , physics , quantum mechanics , neuroscience , law , programming language
Secondary analysis of interviews with 163 birthmothers revealed that the adopted child remains psychologically present. Ten indicators of psychological presence were identified. Indicators related to roles were more salient the more open the adoption, and supernatural referents were more salient when a birthmother once had mediated communication but now has none. Degree of psychological presence was highest in fully‐disclosed adoptions and lower in ongoing‐mediated, confidential, and time‐limited‐mediated adoptions, respectively. Valence was generally positive, but more so in fully‐disclosed adoptions.