Parental imagery vividness: Gender differences and relationships to emotional closeness

This research was an investigation of the vividness with which individuals see their parents in different situations. In 3 studies, the Vividness of V isual Imagery for Parents Questionnaire (VVIPQ; S. J. McKelvie, 1998a) was completed by university undergraduates (201 women, 167 men). Visual imagery of mothers was reported to be more vivid than that of fathers, but only by the female students. For intact families, the female students also reporte d more imagery of mothers than of fathers, whereas the male students report ed more vivid imagery of fathers than of mothers. However, for divorced or separated families in which individuals spent more time with their mothers, both men and women rated their mothers more vividly than their fathers. Mo re vivid imagery was positively related to reported emotional closeness to parents and to more vivid imagery for general scenes. VVIPQ scores were ass ociated with social desirability but were not related to measures of respon se leniency or general intelligence. Split-half reliability of the VVIPQ wa s very good, and both test-retest and alternate-format reliability were acc eptable. The correlational evidence supports the construct validity of the VVIPQ, which is a promising tool for studying parental imagery.