The literature points out that the social imaginary of adoption is associated with altruism and hedonism of adopters. Thus, the present study aimed to investigate some psychosocial characteristics of adoptive mothers, such as the motivation to adopt, moral judgment, locus of control, and perceived social support. The participants were 20 adoptive and 20 biological mothers. Data were collected using a questionnaire of psychosocial items, the Sociomoral Reflection Objective Measure, and Levenson's Multidimensional Locus of Control Scale. The results indicated that 60% of participants related adoption to fertility problems. However except for perceived social support, there were no significant differences between the type of maternity and the variables investigated. The results suggest new directions for studies about the moderator factors of psychological adaptation of adoptive families.
adoption; moral judgment; perceived control
