This paper was authored by our then-Masters student, Ms Tasha Soh.
The student was supervised by Associate Professor Anne Rifkin-Graboi, who can be contacted here should you have any questions about the article.
Summary
This study examined beliefs and behaviors regarding maternal sensitivity in Singapore by comparing observed and self-reported maternal behaviors alongside local early educators’ perceptions of an ideal mother.
Key findings include:
- Educator Alignment: Early childhood educators’ criteria for an ideal mother strongly aligned (r = 0.67) with the standard Maternal Behavior Q-Sort (MBQS) sensitivity prototype, suggesting that sensitive caregiving is highly valued locally.
- Discrepancy in Reports: There was no significant correlation between what mothers reported about their own parenting and what trained observers actually documented (r = -0.13 for standard criterion; r = -0.10 for the local criterion).
- Over-reporting Bias: Mothers rated themselves significantly higher in maternal sensitivity than what was captured in objective video observations (Observed Mean = 0.21 vs. Self-Reported Mean = 0.59).
Implications
The stark contrast between self-evaluations and observed actions reinforces global concerns that parental self-reports suffer from social desirability bias and should not serve as behavioral proxies. Practically, because mothers already believe their caregiving is highly sensitive, intervention programs may face initial resistance. Designing successful outreach requires empathetic communication that anticipates these limits in parental self-evaluation.
Reference
Soh, H. T., Low, A., Ngoh, G., Sim, L. W., Sanmugam, S., Yu, Y., … & Rifkin-Graboi, A. (2026). Maternal sensitivity in Singapore: early educators’ beliefs and mothers’ reported versus observed behavior. Attachment & Human Development, 28(1), 1-19.
Read the article in full here –
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