Intergenerational Emotional Complexes: Marriage and Family Experiences of Women in Two Generations

The researcher proposed that the relationship between mother and daughter and expectation from mother-in-law to daughter-in-law would blur the personal boundary of an individual, thus cause intergenerational emotional conflicts. In the present study, the concept of intergenerational emotional complex was further explored.

Several instruments were developed to measure intergenerational feelings of ambivalence and feelings of guilt. A questionnaire packet was administered to 600 married women living in the northern part of Taiwan. Results indicated that married women experience more emotional complexes from parent-in-low than from parents.