Repressive coping and self-reports of parenting

Objectives. To investigate whether women who possess a repressive coping st yle (repressors) self-report more positive judgments of their childhood on questionnaire and repertory grid measures compared with non-repressors. Design. Repressors (low anxiety-high defensiveness) were compared with a co mposite group of non-repressors, containing some low anxious (low anxiety-l ow defensiveness), some high anxious (high anxiety-low defensiveness), some defensive high anxious (high anxiety-high defensiveness) and some non-extr eme scorers. Methods. Participants completed the Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI; Parke r, Tupling & Brown, 1979) and a 10 x 10 repertory grid, Self-Identification Form. Results. On the PBI, repressors scored significantly higher than non-repres sors on paternal care and significantly lower on paternal overprotection. T here were no group differences for maternal measures. On the repertory grid , repressors compared with non-repressors perceived (a) themselves as signi ficantly closer to their father, a woman they like, and their ideal partner , and significantly further from a woman they dislike, and a man they disli ke; and (b) their father as significantly closer to a woman they like, a pa rtner/person they admire, and an ideal partner. In addition, repressors wer e significantly tighter on construing than non-repressors. Conclusions. The results supported the hypothesis that repressors would rat e their interactions with their fathers more positively than non-repressors when allowed to do so on self-report measures.