Abstract Book of the 7th Global Conference on Women’s Studies
Year: 2025
[PDF]
Gender Dynamics in Adult Mother-Daughter Relationships: Insights from Cross-Cultural Transitions
Dr. Ronit Reuven Even Zahav
ABSTRACT:
Objectives: Mother-daughter relationships are often depicted as foundational bond that significantly shape women’s identities throughout their lives. However, few studies have explored these relationships in adulthood, particularly across different cultural contexts. Existing research tends to focus on a single cultural group and primarily represents the daughter’s perspective. Consequently, our understanding of mother-daughter relationships in adulthood, especially in the context of cross-cultural encounter, disadvantaged groups and equality remains limited. This study, grounded in feminist theory and critical cultural perspectives, aims to compare adult motherdaughter relationships across three cultural groups: Israeli, Ethiopian, and Former Soviet Union. Method: A mixed-methods study was conducted with 190 mothers, using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. The study measured socio-demographic factors, language proficiency, social distance, closeness, emotional stress, and expectations of similarity and difference in mother-daughter relationships. Additionally, 37 mothers participated in semi-structured interviews. Results: The analysis revealed three distinct relationship patterns, each characteristic of a different cultural group. Ethiopian mothers reported more openness in sharing with their daughters, lower expectations of similarity, and greater stress in the relationships compared to Israeli and Former Soviet Union mothers. Conclusions: This study underscores the influence of intercultural transitions and social exclusion on adult mother-daughter relationships, particularly in the context of gender and culture. The findings will be discussed in relation to practices that address intersecting inequalities among diverse groups, with an emphasis on reducing inequalities and promoting empowerment to transform oppressive conditions.
Keywords: culture-informed perspectives; dialectic expectations; feminist theory; intercultural
transitions; women