THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN MOTHER-IN-LAW AND DAUGHTER-IN-LAW: AN EASTERN PERSPECTIVE

Abstract

The relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law has always been portrayed negatively by earlier studies and electronic media. Studies to analyze this relationship mostly belong to Western individualistic cultures. The study involved 440 participants i.e. 217 mothers-in-law and 223 daughters-in-law from Pakistan. Two new scales, each making up 10 items on a 5-point Likert scale, were developed to profile the relationship of mother-in-law and daughter-in-law. These scales were evaluated for their reliability and validity before setting up the results. The findings of the study revealed that, in contradiction to the Western studies and electronic media, the relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law in the understudied culture was significantly positive. The relationship between mother-in-law and daughter-in-law is not always negative in nature. There is still enough room to explore the understudied relationship in different Eastern and collectivistic cultures to get a holistic picture of the issue.   

Keywords: Mother-in-Law; Daughter-in-Law; Relationship; Family; Eastern Culture; Collectivistic Culture.