Abstract
Correlates of fathers' participation in the care of their preschool children were investigated, using two indices of participation: (a) child-care tasks performed by the father independently; and (b) child-care tasks performed jointly with the mother. Subjects were 79 fathers and mothers of Caucasian middle-class 4-year-old girls and the girls themselves, and 36 fathers and mothers of a matched sample of preschool boys. Major factors examined as possible influences on participation included (a) maternal work-role pattern; (b) fathers' and mothers' sex-role ideology; and (c) family “work load,” i.e., family size and number of children under 6. Indices of variables conceptualized as possible consequences of participation included (a) girls' sex-role stereotyping; (b) fathers' self-perceptions of masculinity and femininity; and (c) wives' role-pattern satisfaction. Results indicated that fathers' independent (but not joint) performance of child-care tasks was significantly and positively related to maternal work-role variables and to nontraditional sex-role ideology of fathers and wives, but not to family work load. Independent (but not joint) participation was significantly and negatively related to daughters' stereotyping and to fathers' perceptions of themselves as stereotypically masculine. Wives' role-pattern satisfaction was unexpectedly found to be negatively related to both joint and independent participation.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Bailyn, L. Career and family orientations of husbands and wives in relation to marital happiness. Human Relations, 1970, 23, 97–113.
Baruch, G. K. Maternal influences upon college women's attitudes toward women and work. Developmental Psychology, 1972, 6, 32–37.
Baruch, G. K. Girls who perceive themselves as competent: Some antecedents and correlates. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 1976, 1, 38–49.
Biller, H. B. Father, child, and sex role. Lexington, Mass.: Lexington Books, D.C. Heath, 1971.
Hoffman, L. W. Changes in family roles, socialization, and sex differences. American Psychologist, 1977, 32, 644–647.
Johnson, M. M. Sex-role learning in the nuclear family. Child Development, 1963, 34, 319–333.
Kagan, J., & Lemkin, J. The child's differential perception of parental attributes. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 1960, 61, 440–447.
Keshet, H., & Rosenthal, K. Fathering after marital separation. Social Work, 1978, 23, 11–18.
Lamb, M. The role of the father: An overview. In M. Lamb (Ed.), The role of the father in child development. New York: Wiley, 1976.
Marantz, S. A., & Mansfield, A. F. Maternal employment and the development of sex-role stereotyping in five to eleven year old girls. Child Development, 1977, 48, 668–673.
Nash, J. The father in contemporary culture and current psychological literature. Child Development, 1965, 56, 261–297.
Parsons, T. Family structure and the socialization of the child. In T. Parsons & R. F. Bales (Eds.), Family, socialization and interaction process. Glencoe, Ill.: Free Press, 1955.
Pleck, J. H. Men's new roles in the family. Wellesley MA: Wellesley College Center in Research on women, 1978.
Poloma, M. M., & Garland, T. N. The myth of the egalitarian family: Familial roles and the professionally employed wife. In A. Theodore (Ed.), The professional woman. Boston: Schenkman, 1971.
Robinson, J. P., Yerby, J., Fieweger, M., & Somerick, N. Sex-role differences in time use. Sex Roles, 1977, 3, 443–458.
Rosenkrantz, P., Vogel, S., Bee, H., Broverman, I., & Broverman, D. Sex-role stereotypes and self-concepts in college students. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 1968, 32, 287–295.
Safilios-Rothschild, C. Companionate marriage and sexual inequality: Are they compatible? In C. Safilios-Rothschild (Ed.), Toward a sociology of women. Lexington, Mass.: Xerox College, 1972.
Spence, J. T., & Helmreich, R. The Attitudes toward Women Scale. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 1972, 2, 66.
Spence, J. T., Helmreich, R., & Stapp, J. The Personal Attributes Questionnaire: A measure of sex-role stereotypes and masculinity-femininity. JSAS Catalog of Selected Documents in Psychology, 1974, 4, 43.
Tasch, R. J. The role of the father in the family. Journal of Experimental Education, 1952, 20, 319–361.
Treiman, D. J. Problems of concept and measurement in the comparative study of occupational mobility. Social Science Research, 1975, 4, 183–230.
Vogel, S. R., Broverman, I. K., Broverman, D. M., Clarkson, F. E., & Rosenkrantz, P. Maternal employment and perception of sex roles among college students. Developmental Psychology, 1970, 3, 384–391.
Whiting, B., & Edwards, C. P. A cross-cultural analysis of sex differences in the behavior of children aged three through eleven. In R. A. Levine (Ed.), Culture and personality: Contemporary readings. Chicago: Aldine, 1974.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Additional information
Data reported here were gathered as part of a research project supported by NIMH Grant #25215. The authors wish to acknowledge the collaboration of Susan Dibner.
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Baruch, G.K., Barnett, R.C. Fathers' participation in the care of their preschool children. Sex Roles 7, 1043–1055 (1981). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00288505
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00288505