This study says it’s actually great when your mom nags you

If you have ever been guilt-tripped by your mom or any maternal figure and often pronounce the word mom “but mo-oooom!”, this is for you.

Attention eye-rollers: here is a recent study conducted by the University of Essex in England that found that girls with naggy mamas grew up to be higher earners, college students, and not-teen-mothers.

The study followed the lives of 15,500 13 and 14  year old girls for six years and found these pretty remarkable educational, personal, and career perks to having moms who aren’t afraid to share their high expectations. Pushy moms tend to raise girls that are less likely to become pregnant as teenagers, more likely to attend college, and when they get out into the real world, are more likely to secure jobs and earn higher wages than their non-nagged counterparts

This study is helping us see nagging for what it really is- love. When you love someone, you want them to succeed, and you do everything in your power to help the people you love achieve their goals. We give moms a whole lot of grief for what is really a tougher version of garden variety believing-in-their-children. The trope of the “naggy woman” pops up everywhere, most of the time as a punchline of a joke about an annoying wife, mother, sister, or girlfriend. This kind of joke is Stone Age old. The first homo sapiens probably complained about their nagging mothers just as much as we do now. BUT who do you think pushed those homo sapiens to start making the world’s first simple tools?

That’s right. Cave mommies. 

We’d hope that research like this makes us think twice before we dismiss a mom’s counsel, or the somewhat pushy input of any mom figure in our life. I’m usually happy that I absorb the nagging and work with it, even if I was reluctant to listen to the unasked for advice at first.

Does this mean we have to do everything ma says? Probably not. But it means her advice is definitely useful, helpful, and important.

Jeez, THANKS Mom! *slams bedroom door*

Related:

How Seth Rogen’s wife fought against the “nagging wife” cliche

Just a few reasons why moms are basically the best ever

Image via ABC