Sons seeking something special to give on Mother’s Day might consider offering a listening ear or a chat along with the card, candy or gift certificate to the spa.
Even going so far as to make a video about why they value their moms could make this Mother’s Day stand out from those of the past, given that social support — such as conversations about relationships, religion or recipes — was most frequently mentioned by mothers and sons as critical to their closeness, according to a study by Mark Morman, Ph.D., a professor of communication studies in Baylor’s College of Arts & Sciences.
Morman’s research on parent-child and sibling relationships has been published in several journals, including a study on mother-son bonding in the Journal of Family Communication.
For the most part, mothers and sons were in “remarkable agreement” about incidents they saw as critical, Morman said. Besides social support or “being there,” other pivotal points in mother-son connection included how they weathered a family crisis, a son’s maturing, and a son leaving for college or becoming physically distant for another reason.
Study participants were 139 sons and 68 unrelated mothers, with the sons being at least age 18. Mothers were asked to write about a memorable time they shared with their sons, while sons were asked to relate one about their mothers.
ABOUT BAYLOR UNIVERSITYBaylor University is a private Christian university and a nationally ranked research institution, characterized as having “high research activity” by the Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching. The university provides a vibrant campus community for approximately 15,000 students by blending interdisciplinary research with an international reputation for educational excellence and a faculty commitment to teaching and scholarship. Chartered in 1845 by the Republic of Texas through the efforts of Baptist pioneers, Baylor is the oldest continually operating university in Texas. Located in Waco, Baylor welcomes students from all 50 states and more than 80 countries to study a broad range of degrees among its 11 nationally recognized academic divisions. Baylor sponsors 19 varsity athletic teams and is a founding member of the Big 12 Conference.
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