Experimental Analysis of Behavior Commons^™

Maternal Control, Shame, And Alexithymia, Alyson Pogue

EWU Masters Thesis Collection

There is research to suggest that a girl’s negative relationship with her mother can affect her psychological adjustment as an adult. One example of this negative relationship is a mother who excessively controls her daughter. This type of negative relationship is associated with many psychological difficulties, including alexithymia (i.e. the inability to identify and express what one is feeling) and shame (i.e. pervasive feelings of worthlessness and inadequacy; Kooiman et al., 2004; Kapur & Rai, 2013). A controlling mother can make her child feel like she lacks autonomy (i.e. she lacks a sense that she is capable of accomplishing important …