본 연구는 중년기 기혼부부의 어머니와의 세대관계를 알아보기 위한 목적으로 세대관계 척도개발하고, 이를 통해 세대관계 유형을 구분하여, 유형별 특성을 분석하였다. 연구 대상은 중년기 부부로 어머니가 한 분이라도 생존해 계시는 부부 222쌍이며, 구조화된 질문지를 활용하여 자료를 수집하였다. 연구결과는 다음과 같다. 첫째, 세대간 양가성 이론을 적용하여 세대관계의 긍정적 영역과 부정적 영역 문항에 대한 타당도와 신뢰도를 검증하여, 긍정적 영역 14문항, 부정적 영역 12문항 총 26문항의 척도를 개발하였다. 이를 통해 성인자녀와 어머니와의 세대관계 측정의 일반화 가능성을 확인하였다. 둘째, 중년기 기혼자녀와 어머니와의 관계유형을 세대관계척도를 통해 4가지 유형으로 분류하였다. 각 세대관계별 긍정적 영역과 부정적 영역의 중앙값을 기준으로 긍정적 영역이 높고, 부정적 영역이 낮은 집단은 ‘친밀형’, 긍정적 영역은 낮고, 부정적 영역이 높은 집단은 ‘갈등형’, 두 영역 모두 높은 집단은 ‘양가형’, 두 영역 모두 낮은 집단은 ‘소원형’으로 구분하였다. 각 관계별 유형분포를 살펴보면, 모든 관계에서 친밀형과 갈등형이 높고, 양가형과 소원형이 상대적으로 낮은 경향이 나타났다. 셋째, 동일한 대상에 대한 아내와 남편의 세대관계 유형조합을 살펴보면, 아내의 어머니에 대한 세대관계 유형조합은 갈등형-갈등형이 17.7%, 친밀형-친밀형이 15.5% 순으로 높았고, 모녀관계 양가형- 장서관계 소원형이 가장 낮았다. 남편의 어머니에 대한 세대관계 유형조합은 갈등형-갈등형이 18.6%, 친밀형-친밀형이 16.8% 순으로 높았고, 모자관계 소원형-고부관계 갈등형이 1.2%로 가장 낮았다. 이처럼 비록 낮은 비율이라도 세대관계유형의 가능한 16가지 조합이 모두 관찰되었고, 혼합유형인 12가지 조합이 50%를 넘는다는 점을 통해 가족 내 세대관계의 다양성을 확인할 수 있었다. 다섯째, 중년기 기혼부부의 어머니와의 세대관계에서 유형간 차이를 나타내는 판별요인 중 부모자녀관계 요인에 의해 상당 부분 설명되었다. 각 관계별 차이는 모녀관계와 모자관계는 어머니요인보다는 자녀요인이, 고부관계와 장서관계에서는 자녀요인보다 어머니요인에 의해 설명되어지는 부분이 상대적으로 많았다. 그리고, 가장 중요한 판별요인은 모녀관계, 고부관계, 장서관계에서는 ‘어머니와의 유사성’이, 모자관계는 ‘정서적 지원제공’이다. 본 연구결과를 통해, 세대간 양가성 이론을 적용한 세대관계척도를 개발하고, 모녀관계?모자관계?고부관계?장서관계별로 세대관계 유형을 나누고 유형의 속성을 밝혀 유사점과 차이점을 확인하였다는 점에서 의의가 있다.
To investigate intergenerational relationships between middle-aged married couples and their mothers, this study developed an instrument to measure such relationships; this instrument was used to classify and analyze different relationship types. Structured questionnaires were administered to collect data from 222 middle-aged couples with at least one surviving mother on either side. The research results are as follows. First, by applying the theory of intergenerational ambivalence, the validity and reliability of the questions, which were associated with positive and negative intergenerational relationships, were verified; measurement scale for a total of 26 questions?14 questions in the positive category and 12 questions in the negative category?were developed. By verifying the validity and reliability of the developed measurement scale, it was confirmed that the scale could be generalized. Second, relationships between middle-aged married children and their mothers were classified into four different relationship types by using the intergenerational relationship measurement scale. Based on the median values for the positive and negative categories of each intergenerational relationship, the study participants were segmented; those that scored high in the positive category but low in the negative category were labeled as having ‘intimate’ relationships, those with low results in the positive category but high results in the negative category were indicated as having ‘conflict’ relationships, those that showed high results in both categories were indicated as having ‘ambivalent’ relationships, and those that showed low results in both categories were indicated as having ‘estranged’ relationships. Observing the distribution pattern for each relationship type, there were more ‘intimate’ and ‘conflict’ relationships and relatively fewer ‘ambivalent’ and ‘estranged’ relationships. Third, relationship combinations among wives and husbands toward the same target were observed; regarding the wife’s mother, the relationship combinations of conflict-conflict and intimate-intimate had the highest percentages at 17.7% and 15.5% respectively, while the relationship combination of ambivalent-estranged had the lowest percentage. Regarding the husband’s mother, the relationship combinations of conflict-conflict and intimate-intimate had the highest percentages, at 18.67% and 16.8% respectively, while the combination of estranged (for mother and son) and conflict (for mother and daughter-in-law) had the lowest percentage, at 1.2%. Although low percentage values were observed, all 16 possible intergenerational relationship combinations were observed; based on the finding that more than 50% of participants exhibited 14 of the mixed combinations, the diversity of intergenerational relationships was confirmed. Fourth, most of the factors that determined the various intergenerational relationship types among middle-aged married couples and mothers could be explained by factors pertinent to parent-child relationships. In mother-daughter and mother-son relationships, it was found that relationships differed because of factors related to the child rather than to the mother; by contrast, in mother-daughter-in-law and mother-son-in-law relationships, it was found that relationships differed because of factors related to the mother. The most important determining factor in mother-daughter, mother-daughter-in-law, and mother-son-in-law relationships was ‘similarity’ between the mother and child; in mother-son relationships, the most important determining factor was ‘the provision of emotional support’. This study is significant in that intergenerational relationship scale were developed by applying the theory of intergenerational ambivalence and the relationships between mother-daughter, mother-son, mother-daughter-in-law, and mother-son-in-law relationships were further classified into various relationship types; moreover, the similarities and differences among these relationships were confirmed by revealing the attributes of various relationship types.