title: Prematurity stereotyping: effects on mother-infant interaction.
abstract: The possibility that the self-fulfilling prophecy process can adversely affect the caregiving environment of premature infants was explored in this study. A portion of this process was investigated experimentally by assessing cognitive and behavioral reactions of 27 mothers to unfamiliar full-term infants who were labeled either full-term or premature. Infants who were described as premature were touched less and given a more immature toy to play with, were rated as smaller, finer-featured, and less cute, and were liked less than infants who were labeled full-term. In turn, infants labeled premature were less active during the interaction than infants labeled full-term. College students who later observed the videotapes made of the mother-infant interactions were able to accurately guess which label was assigned to the infants. The results of this study further support the existence of a prematurity stereotype and the impact of expectations on perceptions and behavior.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007224:Infant Care; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007234:Infant, Premature / Q000523:psychology*; D008297:Male; D008425:Maternal Behavior; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D010988:Play and Playthings; D012718:Set, Psychology; D013240:Stereotyping