Transition to Grandmotherhood

1 January 1983

journal article
research article
Published by SAGE Publications in International Journal of Aging & Human Development

Vol. 16 (1) , 67-78
https://doi.org/10.2190/gu3r-506f-2umw-6l8r

Abstract

This exploratory study examines grandparenthood as a role relationship. Grandmothers, in describing the transition to grandparenthood, tended to emphasize emotional/symbolic investment in grandchildren rather than instrumental/interactional dimensions of relationships. The data suggest that grandparental role conceptions are modified by family network variable: Ambiguity in the grandmother role is magnified by geographical distance and by paternal (rather than maternal) grandmotherhood.

Keywords

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