To view the Abstract of Its Own Time and Its Own Season, Click Here
Overview:
- Study Title: “Its Own Time and Its Own Season”: How Women Make Decisions about Unwanted Pregnancies
- July 1997
- 46 interviews with women (18-49) in St. Louis, MO
- Keywords: (1) Further comparison of 3 options: Abortion/Adoption/Carrying to term and raising, (2) Guilt, (3) Shame, (4) Continuation of “Admired Woman” hypothetical
An interesting and notable difference from Study #1 to this one (Study #2):
Most IN-SIGHT projects involve sets of needs that drive certain behaviors and sets of barriers that stand as deterrents to those behaviors. In this project, however, we uncovered what we term “Dynamics”. A dynamic is a conflict between a need and a barrier. The conflict creates a dynamic that promotes certain decisions, while deterring others. No single dynamic is sufficient to lead to any one decision. It is the sum total of all the dynamics that are operating at a given point in time that leads a respondent to make one decision over the other possible options.
The three dynamics (needs vs. barriers) that, either in conflict or collaboration, lead a woman to choose to carry her child to term are as follows:
- The need for physical survival vs. the fear of harm (barrier)
- The need for self-identity vs. the fear of the death of self (respondents who identify with motherhood)
- The need for character preservation vs. the fear of judgment
The dynamics that, either in conflict or collaboration, lead a woman to abort are as follows:
- The need for self-identity vs. the fear of the death of self (respondents who do not identify with motherhood yet)
- The need for character preservation vs. the fear of judgment (the fear of judgment associated with abortion is less than the shame of being stupid, irresponsible due to an unwanted pregnancy)
- The need for physical survival vs. the fear of destitution
Study:
Background
Objectives:
- To understand the psychological dynamics that drive women who are agonizing over an unwanted pregnancy to decide what to do: abort, carry to term, or carry to term with adoption.
- To understand the emotional needs fulfilled by these three decisions.
- To provide strategic direction for positioning the message.
Findings
Women report that effective communication related to encouraging her to carry a child to term must be positive rather than negative, showing viable options for carrying the child to term without losing themselves in the process. They feel that this message of hope is essential and respond with anger to any type of communication that is perceived as telling women what they should do.
Guilt vs. Shame is a key theme
Shame is defined as the fear a woman feels that she will be negatively judged by others and rejected or shunned by them. She feels shame at the thought that external sources – parents, friends, and other significant people in her world – will judge her character negatively. Guilt, on the other hand, arises from internal messages she gives herself such as: “I’m a bad person because I got pregnant,” or “I’m a murderer if I have an abortion.” If character preservation is more strongly served by aborting the child and avoiding the judgment of others (shame), and all else is equal, then she will abort. If character maintenance is more strongly served by carrying the child to term and avoiding the internal message that the woman is a murderer (guilt), then she will have the baby.
Using what we know about character and judgment in messaging: Women who express guilt, regret and remorse after an abortion give us a clear picture of the market that pro-life organizations should target in their ad campaigns. Women who are troubled by the idea of abortion (“high conflict” group – see below section) are the women who are reachable. While it would seem that these women would not make the decision to abort, in this project we found that many women have abortions even though they are deeply troubled by doing so.
For example, several of our respondents who felt that they were murdering another human being had abortions because they were driven to preserve their identities as unencumbered women with plans for their future and/or their enormous level of shame outweighed a high level of guilt. It is possible to reach this segment of women before they abort, but they do not want to be “preached” to. They believe that abortion equals murder from the beginning of the decision-making process. A Vitae commercial that targets the high conflict group directly discourages abortion by depicting that the regret is so profound that it causes a woman to have sleepless nights years later. “Night” runs as follows:
[A woman rises from her bed, the clock showing 3:00 a.m. She goes to the window, staring into the black, rainy night. She stands silently, as a female voice speaks.] “They said you wouldn’t be bothered by a voice calling for you in the night. . .There would be no trail of cereal through the house, no spills or stray toys. The clock ticks. All is calm. And you realize… there is still a voice. If you’ve faced the pain of an abortion, call 1-800. . .”
Due to the painful regret that so many women who have abortions experience, they wish that they had sought kind, loving guidance when struggling with their decision. Many report that they would never have aborted if they had found such guidance. This type of loving guidance is tied to the following important theme (which was first examined in Study #1).
The “Admired Woman”
During the course of the interviews, we asked women to imagine discussing their pregnancies with a woman whom they admire. Respondents say that this admired woman is non-judgmental, caring, compassionate, a good listener, encouraging, has overcome obstacles in her life, is approachable and manages her life effectively. Some also say that the admired woman does not give unwanted advice.
We identified a low and a high conflict group of respondents who had elected abortion. Women in the low conflict group deny that they feel deep seated regret and were not as focused on wishing that they had talked to an admired woman. On the other hand, the high conflict group, the women who abort and then feel extreme guilt, regret, and remorse, hear the admired woman telling them NOT to abort their children.
This woman wishes she had talked with someone she trusted and admired before making the decision to abort. Doing so would have eliminated much guilt, shame, and self-abuse later.
All the women in the high conflict group and some of those in the lower conflict group told us that they wish that they had sought kind, loving guidance when struggling with their decision, and all report that they would never have aborted if they had found such guidance. This type of loving guidance is portrayed in print and in commercials by relying on the discoveries about the “Admired Woman.”
The key to presenting a dialog between a woman with an unwanted pregnancy and a woman she admires is to let the pregnant woman do the talking, discussing her fears and the moral dilemma that she is facing. Portray the confidante as an older, mature family member whose relationship to the decision maker is a longstanding, caring one. This approach removes any feelings of “preaching,” gives the message that the pro-life sponsor of the message understands that it is a very difficult decision that is not taken lightly and points women in the direction of choosing life.
Women are very clear that what they need is a confidante who is compassionate, non-judgmental and non-manipulative, a woman who can show them there is hope for both them and their babies.
These potential confidantes should be considered to be the targets of pro-life messaging as well. Enlist their aid in preventing abortions by considering the psychological dynamics that drive women’s feelings and thoughts when suffering with an unwanted pregnancy. Show potential confidantes that many women cannot live with the decision to abort. The confidante will subconsciously model the role of the confidante that she sees in a powerful commercial. She should see that she can best serve her friend by asking her questions, showing empathy, and helping her discuss other options. Focus on the regret and remorse that a woman feels after aborting a baby, showing that many women cannot live with this decision, and that there can be unfortunate emotional consequences later.
The message should not, however, attempt to place blame or guilt. Avoid direct mention of guilt, as that only intensifies the emotional stress without adding to the attractiveness of keeping the baby or choosing adoption. Instead, show one woman talking to another about her feelings after her own abortion.
BUT…The admired woman must be someone that a woman trusts. There must be an extremely strong emotional attachment to the woman. This type of attachment is difficult if not impossible for an ad campaign to accomplish. For this reason, it is to Vitae’s benefit to focus more on the regret and remorse that a woman feels after aborting a child, showing that not all women can live with this decision, and that there could be unfortunate emotional consequences later.