Reflexive Activity of Adults Subjective Survived Maternal Deprivation

This research focuses on the issue of reflexive activity of grown-ups who experienced subjective maternal deprivation. Its aim is to study the correlation between reflexive activity and the degree of expression of subjective maternal deprivation experienced. General theoretical hypothesis implied that there is a correlation between subjective maternal deprivation experienced in childhood and the manifestation of reflexive activity of grown men. On top of that, the author introduces empirical hypotheses. First empirical hypothesis states that people who experienced severe subjective maternal deprivation in childhood have been witnessed to have less severe reflexive activity. Second empirical hypothesis states that people who experienced severe subjective maternal deprivation in childhood have been witnessed to have higher level of severity of social anhedonia. The author views reflexive activity as a feature of reflection that defines the boundaries of individual’s self-cognition in significant life situations. The main object of the research is the direction and expression of reflexive activity of grown-ups that have been exposed to subjective maternal deprivation. The participants of the study included grown people who experienced subjective maternal deprivation in childhood, each to different extent. The total number of those who participated stands for 83. The research employed the set of techniques, which included biography interviews; the variant of non-verbal symmetrical differential proposed by the author; and the methodic of social anhedonia. Empirical results were analyzed using content analysis, descriptive statistics, distinguishing criterion and correlation analysis. The study revealed that reflexive activity of grown-ups is related to the experience of relationship with the mother in childhood, with experience of maternal deprivation in particular. Differentiation of grown people according to the extent of expression of experienced subjective maternal deprivation widens the difference range in the expression of reflexive activity. Reflexive activity of grown-ups having been exposed to subjective maternal deprivation is expressed less significantly in comparison to that of those having no such experience of being rejected by mother in childhood, only in 3 characteristics out of 15. The following results partially confirm the first empirical hypothesis. The level of expression of social anhedonia, as one of the characteristics of reflection, is significantly higher than of those who was exposed to subjective maternal deprivation. The obtained results confirm the second empirical hypothesis.