Which Love Language do You Speak With Your Child? What Are the Effects of your Age, Level of Education, Work Status, and the Number of Children in the Family on the Used Love Languages?

Abstract

The purpose of the current study was to identify which languages of love that the mother used with her child. In addition, it examined the effect of mother’s age, level of education, work status, and the number of children in the family on the extent of the mother’s use of love languages. The study sample consisted of 729 mothers from the study population. The researchers used a questionnaire instrument that consisted of 105 items that were groups into five dimensions that represent the five love languages proposed by Gary Chapman, (1992). The researchers adopted and adjusted five love languages questionnaire to make it appropriate to be used in the Arab world. The questionnaire instrument was presented to panel of experts to check its validity. Appropriate statistical analysis methods were performed on participants’ responses to the questionnaire.   

The findings showed that the most common type of love language that the mothers used to speak with their children was “acts of service”, while the least common type of love language that the mothers used to speak with their children was “words of affirmation”. In addition, the results showed that there were no significant differences in the extent of the mother’s use of love languages based on mother’s age, level of education, work status, and the number of children in the family. Based on the findings, the study provided some recommendations that were related to the important guidance roles of the institutions, centers and associations that concerned with the childhood sector and the parental relationship. These institutions, centers and associations should conduct training sessions and seminars that aim to discuss the nature of the relationship between mothers and their children. They should publish more training manuals and records that discuss the concept of love between the mother and her child and improve parents understanding of the love relationship between the mother and her child. Another important recommendation was related to the need to conduct more research studies to understand the relationship between the mother and her child.