Representation of one's own birth: problematics and gender differences

The article examines the concept of mental representation. A theoretical contrast of its concepts is presented. The features of the formation of the representation of the self are considered. It is reported that the ability to represent is present from infancy, however, differentiation of oneself from objects is formed by the age of 3. The author introduces the problem of representing one’s own birth as a mental reflection of the external situation of appearance in the family and studies it within the framework of a dissertation research. There were empirically studied «negative», «neutral» and «positive» representations of one’s own birth using a sample of 189 participants. The sample was divided based on the results of the answer to the question «Do you think that your parents/mother did not want you to be born?». Four groups were identified: 1. «They wanted an abortion», 2. «They took it normally», 3. «Happy to be pregnant», 4. «Child of a different sex». There was used a nonparametric Mann-Whitney U test to calculate differences between groups. The author presents differences in the severity of representations between women and men. It was found that the «negative» representation of one’s own birth is expressed to a greater extent in women than in men. It was shown that significant differences between the representation groups concerned the presence of children. The differences were due not only to groups, but also to sexual differentiation. The results of the work confirm the need for separate research into the indicators of men and women in the further development of the problem. The findings explore participants' own feelings of worthlessness rather than their mother's perceptions of them. The research materials may be useful for individual psychotherapeutic practice with adults and children, as well as in the methodological and empirical scientific field.