The influence of father-daughter relationship and girls' sex-roles on girls' self-esteem

Summary

The aim of this study was to explain how a father-daughter relationship and a girl's femininity has an influence on a girl's self-esteem by examining the relationship among paternal rearing, a girl's self-esteem, and a girl's femininity. Subjects were 319 girls attending junior high school and high school. Paternal rearing, girls' self-esteem, and their femininity were measured on the Parental Bonding Instrument, the Coopersmith Self-Esteem Inventory, and the Bem Sex-Role Inventory, respectively. Fathers' overprotection had significant negative correlation with daughters' self-esteem in the junior high school students (r = −0.32, p < 0.01), but not in the high school students. While, daughters' femininity significantly correlated with their self-esteem both in the junior high school students (r = 0.32, p < 0.01) and in the high school students (r = 0.48, p < 0.01).