Taking an initial step to empirically investigate cultural conjecture about stay-at-home mothers' (SAHMs') and working mothers’ (WMs') rivalry, the purpose of this study was to identify the content of stereotypes held for these subgroups of mothers. Through open-ended responses from SAHMs, WMs, and a broad non-parent sample, 5,523 traits of SAHMs and WMs emerged. Following coding procedures used in previous stereotype research (Hummert, Garstka, Shaner, & Strahm, 1994; Ruble & Zhang, 2013), the authors grouped the traits into 28 SAHM and 21 WM stereotype categories. The SAHM stereotype categories align with traditional views of womanhood, feminism, and family structure and reveal positive evaluations of mothering ability. Examples of the SAHM stereotype categories include: “domestic,” “caregiver,” “family-oriented,” and “ideal mom.” The WM stereotype categories align with non-traditional views of womanhood, motherhood, and family structure and reveal negative evaluations of mothering ability. Examples of the WM stereotype categories include: “determined,” “independent,” “work-focused,” and “substandard mom”. SAHM and WM stereotypes provide evidence for both stagnant and progressing ideals of women such that SAHMs are perceived as feminine, heterosexual housewives who are solely competent at mothering and WMs are perceived as independent, strong women who lack maternal instincts. Building on social identity (Tajfel & Turner, 1986) and subsequent theorizing (Cuddy, Fiske, & Glick, 2007), these results lay groundwork for further assessment of these stereotypes, particularly their prevalence, valence, and links to specific family and intergroup communication practices.

1. Stereotypes of Stay-at-Home and Working Mothers
Stereotype
Frequency
SAHM
WM
Aimless
85
Balancing work, family, & life
97
Busy
68
179
Caregiver
131
17
Caring
174
26
Crafty
44
Dedicated
70
40
Determined
10
176
Domestic
391
27
Executives of the home
58
14
Family-oriented
81
9
Flexible
54
5
Happy
40
22
Hardworking
98
159
Has a lot of free time
111
Ideal Mom
61
29
Independent
9
68
Involved in children’s lives
145
19
Knowledgeable
12
64
Lazy
91
4
Loving
112
35
Multi-tasking
16
48
Nontraditional
7
122
Organized
61
57
Overbearing
62
2
Overextended
44
Overworked
50
68
Patient
41
4
Privileged
117
20
Selfish
7
55
Selfless
64
15
Short on time
56
Socially isolated
61
2
Stressed
33
106
Strong
24
55
Substandard Mom
56
Super Mom
16
54
Tired
41
86
Traditional
100
Uninvolved in children’s lives
80
Unknowledgeable
39
1
Warm
48
3
Work-focused
98
Kelly G. Odenweller & Christine E. RittenourWest Virginia University
OBJECTIVE & RATIONALE
MOTHERS (n= 350)
•SAHMs (n= 121; 18.01%) and WMs (n= 223; 33.18%)
•Ranged in age from 18 to 58 (M= 39.80, SD= 9.07)
•Predominantly Caucasian (n= 311, 88.90%)
•Majority were married (n= 297, 84.90%)
•Majority had one to three children (n= 315, 90.00%)
The final stereotype categories (i.e., 28 about SAHMs and 21 about WMs) encompassed a wide range of femininityand feminismby highlighting traditional and nontraditional ideas of womanhood, motherhood, and family structure. These stereotypes have implications for mothers’ identities, family relationships, and communication within and between mother groups.
Note. These are the most frequent stereotypes that emerged in the data either as mentioned by 10% of the overall sample (i.e., 67 stereotypes) or as determined by binominal critical frequency values of 37 for stay-at-home mother stereotypes and 39 for working mother stereotypes.
Forty-eight stereotypes were removed from this table due to low frequencies: Bossy, Captivating, Catty, Cold, Common, Competitive, Concerned about appearances, Confident, Cooperative, Dependable, Dependent, Devalued, Emotional, Energetic, Fun, Guilt-ridden, High-strung, Homely, Humble, Important, Insecure, Married, Mom, Non-domestic, Obedient, Obligated, Old, Outsources child care, Passionate, Poor, Rational, Respectful, Responsible, Sad, Scattered, Self-righteous, Shopper, Single, Social, Sophisticated, Strict, Supportive, Teacher of Values, Thrifty, Timid, Unfaithful, Unreliable, Volunteer.
In an online experiment using these stereotypes and stereotype profiles uncovered in a follow- up study (currently revising for resubmission at a top-tier journal), my dissertation seeks to demonstrate the effects of communicated stereotypes on SAHMs’
and WMs’ attitudes, intergroup anxiety, emotional responses, behaviors,
and willingness to communicate with the outgroup mother. Additionally,
drawing upon the common ingroupidentity model (CIIM; Gaertner,
Dovidio, Anastasio, Bachman, & Rust, 1993), my dissertation aims to isolate
the effects of transformations to the social categorization process on SAHMs’
and WMs’ intergroup attitudes and communication by manipulating computer-mediated messages ostensibly submitted from an outgroup mother. NON-PARENTS (n= 322)
•Mostly females (n= 222, 68.90%)
•Ranged in age from 18 to 60 (M= 21.47, SD= 4.70)
•Predominantly Caucasian (n= 260, 80.70%)
•Majority were single (n= 193, 59.90%)
METHODS
RQ RESULTS
Although fathers play a pivotal role in both work and family spheres (Duckworth & Buzzanell, 2009; Lamb, 2010), “mother” represents a social category appropriate for intergroup inquiry due to
the salience of mothers’ social identities, societal
scrutiny associated with the mothering role, and
intergroup relationships among subgroups of women.
First, most mothers consider “mother” to be their
central, if not primary, social identity (Arendell, 2000;
Graham, Sorell, & Montgomery, 2004), reporting
more satisfaction with parenting than fathers report
and ranking parenting as more important than their
marriages or occupations (Rogers & White, 1998).
Second, societal scrutiny of mothers’ private and public
gender roles renders motherhood a socially constructed,
intergroup context (Garey, 1999; Palomares, 2012).
Third, employment circumstances thrust mothers into
dichotomized (sub)groups that mainstream society
claims are fraught with intergroup tensions.
Taking an initial step to empirically investigate cultural conjecture about stay-at-home mothers’ (SAHMs’) and working mothers’ (WMs’) rivalry, the purpose of this study was to identify the content of stereotypes held for these subgroups of mothers by these mothers and society at large.
TAKE AWAYS…
…THAT INFORM MY DISSERATION
ANALYSES
In accordance with Hummert, Garstka, Shaner, and Strahm(1994) and Ruble and Zhang (2013), the authors collaboratively compiled the 5,523 traits provided by participants into categories of SAHM and WM stereotypes via the following four steps:
1.Identical or synonymous traits (e.g., “homemaker,” “housewife,” “housekeeper,” “maid,” “takes care of household chores”) were collapsed into more inclusive categories (e.g., “domestic”).
2.Comparative words and phrases (e.g., “better mom than working mother,” “the better way to raise children,” “their children gain more from them being home”) were subsumed under relevant categories (e.g., “ideal mom”).
3.Upon further consideration of the original categories, those appearing to represent similar themes (e.g., “lucky,” “wealthy,” and “spoiled”), regardless of incongruent valences, were further collapsed into superordinate categories (e.g., “privileged”).
4.Vague or non-trait descriptors (e.g., “great,” “babies,” “ramen noodles”) and descriptors that diverged from the instructions (e.g., “I hate kids;” “different as snowflakes, all have different motivations and situation at home;” “I know several stay at home mothers, no two are exactly the alike”) were removed.
PROCEDURES
Based on procedures used by Hummert, Garstka, Shaner, and Strahm(1994) and Ruble and Zhang (2013), stereotype content was assessed via two open-ended questions—one for SAHMs and one for WMs.
Because mothers—and women in general—have historically occupied an inferior position within patriarchal society and experienced scrutiny for their mothering/career aspirations (Arendell, 2000; Dillaway& Pare, 2008), it is likely that the content of mothers’ stereotypes reflect a wide array of societal attributes.
RQ: What is the content of stereotypes held about stay-at-home and working mothers held by stay-at-home mothers, working mothers, and society at large?
As group members recount the traits they perceive in themselves and others, these ‘truths’ consistently reveal more
complex and diverse perceptions about one’s ingroup as compared perceptions of outgroupmembers (Oakes, 2008).
H: Stay-at-home and working mothers will hold more stereotypes for their respective ingroup than they hold for the outgroup?
STEREOTYPES: Overgeneralized, exaggerated beliefs about social groups’ characteristics and behaviors that help individuals categorize, form opinions, and rationalize their behavior toward individuals and groups (Allport, 1954; Lippman, 1922).
INSTRUCTIONS TO PARTICIPANTS: Describe typical traits of SAHMs/WMs using as many words or phrases you associate or have heard others associate with SAHMs/WMs regardless if they consider these descriptions to be accurate representations of these social groups.
MOMMY WARS
Tallying results
•SAHM participants: 635 about SAHM, 454 about WMs
•WM participants: 886 about SAHMs, 823 about WMs T-test results
•SAHM participants: stereotypes about ingroup(M= 5.25, SD= 3.69, mode = 4, range = 1-25) significantly greater than stereotypes for outgroup(M= 3.75, SD= 2.43, mode = 3, range = 1-15), t(119) = 6.74, p < .001.
•WM participants: stereotypes about outgroup(M= 3.97, SD= 2.27, mode = 3, range = 1-13) significantly greater than stereotypes for ingroup(M= 3.69, SD= 2.02, mode = 3, range = 1-14), t(222) = 2.54, p = .01.
Thus, the hypothesis (H) was partially supported.
H RESULTS