Mariah Carey blames 'diva moments' on her mom

— -- Even if you don't know much about Mariah Carey, you've probably heard something about her being a diva who makes impossible demands.

But according to the singer herself, she gets all that from her mother.

After Carey told Paper magazine, "I've never had a diva moment," she clarified what she meant.

"I have had diva moments, and then people can't handle it. I guess it's a little intense, because I come from a true diva," she said. "My mother is an opera singer. And that's a real diva, you know -- Juilliard diva."

She added with a laugh, "Other people that are like, 'I'm a diva,' it's like, 'Honey, you don't know what a diva is, you didn't grow up with my mom!' And I mean it as a compliment, or I wouldn't be the person I am without experiencing that."

The 47-year-old, who has two children of her own, told the magazine that she gets more than just her attitude from her mother. She added that her voice and her penchant for pet names are also inherited.

"I'm channeling my mother," she confirmed. "I don't do it to be disrespectful, I just do it and it just happens...I can't fight it."