You are here

FAU Collections » FAU Research Repository » FAU Theses and Dissertations

Cinderella effect: The psychological bases and mental dynamics of step-parental ambivalence

Download pdf | Full Screen View

Date Issued:
2004
Summary:
Cross-cultural empirical data show that stepchildren receive lower levels of parental investment than their genetic counterparts. Beyond economic deprivation, stepchildren are abused, neglected, and murdered at the hands of stepparents at significantly higher rates than their genetic counterparts (the Cinderella Effect). This study was focused on emotional capital as a resource for purposes of parental investment. Using the tools of dynamical systems, this study investigated the affective components of the differential levels of parental investment in genetic and step-children in light of predictions derived from evolutionary and personality/synchronization based psychological mechanisms. This was accomplished by defining and comparing the valence and nature of step- and genetic parents' feelings toward genetic and step-children and by tracking the mental dynamics engaged in by such parents as they considered their genetic and step-children under varying commonplace circumstances. As predicted, positive affective parental investment was found to be allocated preferentially in favor of genetic children and parents were found to have consistently more positive, more parental, and less volatile feelings about their genetic children than about their stepchildren. Genetic parents were more attentive to environmental cues at an affective level and tended to resolve situational ambiguity in favor of adopting a positive affective stance, while stepparents were more prone to experience affective shifts between evaluative frames and to express negative affectivity in the face of social uncertainty. The data also revealed that both genetic and step-parents were more likely to express positive feelings for children to whom they felt similar, which similarity provided a basis for personal synchronization. Theoretically grounded in both the evolutionary perspective and personality-based theory, this study employed the methodology and tools of dynamical systems to extract structure from the dynamics inherent in parental evaluation and the expression of affect.
Title: The Cinderella effect: The psychological bases and mental dynamics of step-parental ambivalence.
4530 views
209 downloads
Name(s): Miller, Mandy E.
Florida Atlantic University, Degree Grantor
Charles E. Schmidt College of Science
Department of Psychology
Type of Resource: text
Genre: Electronic Thesis Or Dissertation
Issuance: monographic
Date Issued: 2004
Publisher: Florida Atlantic University
Place of Publication: Boca Raton, Fla.
Physical Form: application/pdf
Extent: 146 p.
Language(s): English
Summary: Cross-cultural empirical data show that stepchildren receive lower levels of parental investment than their genetic counterparts. Beyond economic deprivation, stepchildren are abused, neglected, and murdered at the hands of stepparents at significantly higher rates than their genetic counterparts (the Cinderella Effect). This study was focused on emotional capital as a resource for purposes of parental investment. Using the tools of dynamical systems, this study investigated the affective components of the differential levels of parental investment in genetic and step-children in light of predictions derived from evolutionary and personality/synchronization based psychological mechanisms. This was accomplished by defining and comparing the valence and nature of step- and genetic parents' feelings toward genetic and step-children and by tracking the mental dynamics engaged in by such parents as they considered their genetic and step-children under varying commonplace circumstances. As predicted, positive affective parental investment was found to be allocated preferentially in favor of genetic children and parents were found to have consistently more positive, more parental, and less volatile feelings about their genetic children than about their stepchildren. Genetic parents were more attentive to environmental cues at an affective level and tended to resolve situational ambiguity in favor of adopting a positive affective stance, while stepparents were more prone to experience affective shifts between evaluative frames and to express negative affectivity in the face of social uncertainty. The data also revealed that both genetic and step-parents were more likely to express positive feelings for children to whom they felt similar, which similarity provided a basis for personal synchronization. Theoretically grounded in both the evolutionary perspective and personality-based theory, this study employed the methodology and tools of dynamical systems to extract structure from the dynamics inherent in parental evaluation and the expression of affect.
Identifier: 9780496903344 (isbn), 12119 (digitool), FADT12119 (IID), fau:9029 (fedora)
Collection: FAU Electronic Theses and Dissertations Collection
Note(s): Adviser: Robin R. Vallacher.
Thesis (Ph.D.)--Florida Atlantic University, 2004.
Subject(s): Psychology, Social
Psychology, Developmental
Held by: Florida Atlantic University Libraries
Sublocation: Digital Library
Persistent Link to This Record: http://purl.flvc.org/fau/fd/FADT12119
Use and Reproduction: Copyright © is held by the author, with permission granted to Florida Atlantic University to digitize, archive and distribute this item for non-profit research and educational purposes. Any reuse of this item in excess of fair use or other copyright exemptions requires permission of the copyright holder.
Use and Reproduction: http://rightsstatements.org/vocab/InC/1.0/
Host Institution: FAU
Is Part of Series: Florida Atlantic University Digital Library Collections.