Most Americans Enjoy Positive Relationships With Their Mothers

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- As Americans celebrate Mother's Day this weekend, a new Gallup poll (conducted May 7-9) shows nine out of 10 Americans enjoy a positive relationship with their mothers. Among the 64% of the American population whose mothers are still living, 76% describe their relationship with their mother as "very positive," while 17% term it "somewhat positive." Just 4% describe the relationship as neutral -- "neither positive nor negative" -- while only 3% say the relationship is negative.

At the same time, Americans are not nearly so strongly positive about their mothers-in-law. To be sure, when married Americans are asked to describe their relationship with their mother-in-law, 87% say it is generally positive. This is very similar to the percentage who say they have a positive overall relationship with their mother. However, there is a significant 20-percentage-point difference between the percentage of people who say they have a "very positive" relationship with their mother (76%) and the percentage who say this about their mother-in-law (56%). And, despite well-known stereotypes about mothers-in-law, only 7% of married Americans describe their relationship with their spouse's mother as negative. Married women tend to be less positive about their mothers-in-law than are married men. The poll shows that 93% of men cite an overall positive relationship with their mother-in-law, compared with 80% of women.

What Can Mom Expect for Mother's Day?

Cynics suggest that the greeting card industry was responsible for the creation of Mother's Day, and if those cynics are correct, then the card makers should be very successful again this year. Nearly nine out of 10 Americans (89%) plan to send or give their mothers a card for the holiday, while 76% will buy a gift. Seven out of 10 will telephone their mothers, while 68% plan to visit in person. Just 40% plan to send flowers.

 

2001 May 7-9 (based on "yes, likely to do")	Yes, likely to do	No, not likely to do
	%	%
Send or give your mother a card	89	11
Buy your mother a gift	76	23
Call your mother on the telephone	70	29
Visit your mother	68	30
Send your mother flowers	40	58

 

2001 May 7-9 (based on "yes, likely to do")	Men	Women
	%	%
Send or give your mother a card	87	92
Buy your mother a gift	73	80
Call your mother on the telephone	67	73
Visit your mother	70	66
Send your mother flowers	38	41

Survey Methods

The results reported here are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,005 adults, 18 years and older, conducted May 7-9, 2001. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Is your motherliving today?

 

	Yes	No	NOT APPLICABLE (vol.)	No answer
2001 May 7-9	64%	36	*	*
2000 May 5-7	64%	36	*	*

How would you characterize your relationship with your mother today -- is it very positive, somewhat positive, neither positive nor negative, somewhat negative, or very negative?

BASED ON -- 604 -- WHOSE MOTHER IS LIVING TODAY; ±4 PCT. PTS.

 

	Very posi- tive	Somewhat posi- tive	Neither posi- tive nor nega- tive	Somewhat nega- tive	Very nega- tive	NOT APPLI- CABLE (vol.)	No opin- ion
	%	%	%	%	%	%	%
National Adults
2001 May 7-9	76	17	4	1	2	*	*
2000 May 5-7	74	18	4	2	2	*	--
Men
2001 May 7-9	76	18	4	*	1	0	1
2000 May 5-7	74	18	5	2	1	*	--
Women
2001 May 7-9	75	16	4	2	2	1	*
2000 May 5-7	74	18	3	3	2	*	--

Which, if any of the following are you likely to do for your mother on Mother's Day this year? How about -- [RANDOM ORDER]?

BASED ON -- 604 -- WHOSE MOTHER IS LIVING TODAY; ±4 PCT. PTS.

A. Buy your mother a gift

 

	Yes, likely to do	No, not likely to do	No opinion
2001 May 7-9	76%	23	1

B. Send your mother flowers

 

	Yes, likely to do	No, not likely to do	No opinion
2001 May 7-9	40%	58	2

C. Send or give your mother a card

 

	Yes, likely to do	No, not likely to do	No opinion
2001 May 7-9	89%	11	*

D. Call your mother on the telephone

 

	Yes, likely to do	No, not likely to do	No opinion
2001 May 7-9	70%	29	1

E. Visit your mother

 

	Yes, likely to do	No, not likely to do	No opinion
2001 May 7-9	68%	30	2

MOTHER'S DAY CELEBRATION SUMMARY TABLE

 

2001 May 7-9 (based on "yes, likely to do")	Yes, likely to do	No, not likely to do
	%	%
Send or give your mother a card	89	11
Buy your mother a gift	76	23
Call your mother on the telephone	70	29
Visit your mother	68	30
Send your mother flowers	40	58

* Less than 0.5%
(vol.) Volunteered response