Prematurity Stereotyping by Mothers of Premature Infants

Previous research has experimentally documented a prematurity stereotype in college students and mothers of full-term infants. The present investigation extends the scope of earlier studies to mothers of premature infants. Thirty-two mothers of premature infants viewed four videotapes of 9-month-old full-term infants, each labeled either full-term or premature and either male or female. When infants were labeled premature the mothers perceived them as littler, finer featured, weaker, more passive, and slower than infants labeled full-term. The mothers also perceived labeled boys as bigger than labeled girls. Differences in stereotyping between the mothers in this study and both mothers of full-term infants and college students are identified and discussed. Results suggest that mothers of premature infants expect deficits in premature infants' physical development but not in premature infants' mental or social development. The likely sources and possible self-fulfilling nature of these biased perceptions are considered