Hostname: page-component-586b7cd67f-t7czq Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-27T11:07:42.594Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

Fathers and Gender Traditionalism: Perception of Inequality and Life Roles

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  10 April 2014

Consuelo Paterna*
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia
Carmen Martínez
Affiliation:
Universidad de Murcia
*
Correspondence concerning this article should be addressed to Consuelo Paterna Bleda. Facultad de Psicología, Área de Psicología Social, 30100 Campus de Espinardo, Murcia (Spain). Phone: 968-363974. Fax: 968-364115. E-mail: [email protected]

Abstract

Men's discourse about the paternal role is changing significantly. Despite the fact that men still perceive themselves as being responsible for the family's economical protection and the children's discipline, they face increasing demands for more involvement in childcare. From this perspective, this work analyzes the traditional view of gender roles and the perception of inequality in a sample of 95 employed fathers, as well as the various levels of satisfaction with other life roles and their relevance as a function of some gender and sociodemographic variables. The results show that men do not maintain a very traditional gender ideology with regard to role distribution and they still consider the paternal role and feelings as the most important thing in their lives. However, the couple relationship gives them the most satisfaction. Level of traditionalism and age were the two significant predicting variables of perception of inequality of men and women.

El discurso de los hombres sobre el rol paternal está cambiando significativamente, pues aunque todavía se perciben como responsables de la protección económica de la familia y disciplina de los hijos, también se les exige mayor compromiso en el cuidado de éstos. Desde esta perspectiva este trabajo analiza la visión tradicional de los roles de género y la percepción de desigualdad en una muestra de 95 padres con empleo, así como los diferentes niveles de satisfacción con otros roles vitales y su relevancia en función de ciertas variables de género y sociodemográficas. Los resultados muestran que los hombres no mantienen una ideología de género demasiado tradicional respecto de la distribución de roles y siguen considerando el sentimiento y rol paternal como lo más relevante en sus vidas. Sin embargo es la relación de pareja lo que mayor satisfacción les produce. El grado de tradicionalismo y la edad son las dos variables predictoras significativas de la percepción de desigualdad entre hombres y mujeres.

Type
Articles
Copyright
Copyright © Cambridge University Press 2006

Access options

Get access to the full version of this content by using one of the access options below. (Log in options will check for institutional or personal access. Content may require purchase if you do not have access.)

References

Aldous, J., Mulligan, G.M., & Bjarnason, T. (1998). Fathering over time: What makes the difference? Journal of Marriage and the Family, 60, 809820.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Arrighi, B.A., & Maume, D.J. (2000). Workplace subordination and men's avoidance of housework. Journal of Family Issues, 21, 464487.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnett, R.C., Marshall, N.L., & Pleck, J.H. (1992). Men's multiple roles and their relationship to men's psychological distress. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 54, 358367.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Barnett, R.C., & Rivers, C. (1996). She works/he works: How two-income families are happier, healthier, and better off. New York: Harper Collins.Google Scholar
Blazina, Ch., & Watkins, C.E. (2000). Separation/Individuation, parental attachment, and male gender role conflict: Attitudes toward the feminine and the fragile masculine self. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 1, 1126–132.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Brownson, Ch., & Gilbert, L.A. (2002). The development of the discourses about fathers' inventory: Measuring fathers' perceptions of their exposure to discourses. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 3, 8596.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bulanda, R.E. (2004). Paternal involvement with children: The influence of gender ideologies. Journal of Marriage and Family, 66, 4045.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Castelain-Meunier, Ch. (2002). The place of fatherhood and the parental role: Tensions, ambivalence and contradictions. Current Sociology, 50, 185201.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Chopra, R. (2001). Gender studies, “father love” and the discourse of mothering. Women's Studies International Forum, 24, 4455–455.Google Scholar
Connell, R.W. (1987). Gender and power. Oxford: Polity Press.Google Scholar
Connell, R.W. (1995). Masculinities. Berkeley, CA: University of California Press.Google Scholar
DeMaris, A., & Longmore, M.A. (1996). Ideology, power, and equity: Testing competing explanations for the perception of fairness in household labour. Social Forces, 74, 10431071.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Deutsch, F.M., Lussier, J.B., & Servis, L.J. (1993). Husbands at home: Predictors of paternal participation in childcare and housework. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 65, 11541166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Dienhart, A. (1998). Reshaping fatherhood: The social construction of shared parenting. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Elvin-Nowak, (1999). The meaning of guilt: A phenomenological description of women's everyday life experiences of guilt. Scandinavian Journal of Psychology, 40, 7383.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Geiger, B. (1996). Fathers as primary caregivers. London: Greenwood Press.Google Scholar
Kluwer, E., & Mikula, G. (2002). Gender-related inequalities in the division of family work in close relationships: A social psychological perspective. European Review of Social Psychology, 13, 185216.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Lamb, M.F. (Ed.). (1997). The role of the father in child development (3rd ed.). New York: Wiley.Google Scholar
LaRossa, R. (1997). The modernization of fatherhood: A social and political history. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.Google Scholar
Lennon, M.C., & Rosenfield, S. (1994). Relative fairness and the division housework: The importance of options. American Journal of Sociology, 100, 505531.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Levant, R.F., & Pollack, W.S. (Eds.). (1995). A new psychology of men. New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Mackey, W.C. (2001). Support for the existence of an independent man-to-child affiliative bond: Fatherhood as a biocultural invention. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 2, 5166.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Martínez, C., Vera, J.J., Paterna, C., & Rosa, A. (2002). Antecedentes del conflicto interrol y su relación con el autoesquema de género. Anales de Psicología, 18, 305317.Google Scholar
Paterna, C., & Martínez, C. (2001). La posición de la mujer frente a los roles de género: familia versus empleo. Apuntes de Psicología, 19, 403420.Google Scholar
Paterna, C., & Martínez, C. (2003). Tradicionalismo de los roles maternales y la relevancia del trabajo. Intervención Psicosocial, 12, 8393.Google Scholar
Parke, R.D., & Brott, A.A. (1999). Throwaway dads: The myths and barriers that keep men from being the fathers they want to be. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.Google Scholar
Pleck, J.H. (1981). The myth of masculinity. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.Google Scholar
Pleck, J.H. (1987). American fathering in historical perspective. In Kimmel, M.S. (Ed.), Changing men: New directions in research on men and masculinity (pp. 8397). Beverly Hills, CA: Sage.Google Scholar
Pollack, W.S. (1995). No man is an island: Toward a new psychoanalytic psychology of men. In Levant, R.F. & Pollack, W.S. (Eds.), A new psychology of men (pp. 3367). New York: Basic Books.Google Scholar
Presser, H.B. (1994). Employment schedules among dual-earner spouses and the division of household labor by gender. American Sociological Review, 59, 348364.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Ranson, G. (2001). Men at work. Change—or no change? in the era of the “new father.” Men and Masculinities, 4, 326.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wade, J.C., & Brittan-Powell, Ch. (2001). Men's attitudes toward race and gender equity: The importance of masculinity ideology, gender-related traits, and reference group identity dependence. Psychology of Men and Masculinity, 2, 4250.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Wetherell, M., & Edley, N. (1999). Negotiation hegemonic masculinity: Imaginary positions and psycho-discursive practices. Feminism and Psychology, 9, 335356.CrossRefGoogle Scholar