Who should do what? Gender Roles and the Transitions to First- and Second-Time Parenthood: Lessons from Television and Consequences in Coparenting.

Gender Roles;Parenthood;Psychology;Social Sciences;Psychology

Kuo, PattyGonzalez, Richard D. ;

University of Michigan

关键词: Gender Roles;    Parenthood;    Psychology;    Social Sciences;    Psychology;   

Others  :  https://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/handle/2027.42/120822/pkuo_1.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y

瑞士|英语

来源: The Illinois Digital Environment for Access to Learning and Scholarship

【 摘 要 】

This dissertation examined the influence of television on gender role beliefs during the transition to first-time parenthood and investigated whether gender role beliefs shape coparenting dynamics in second-time parents. Study 1 examined whether regular levels of television use were associated with beliefs about fathers and gender roles among first-time expectant parents via an online survey. First-time expectant fathers were more likely to say that fathers were unimportant when they watched more television featuring dads, even if the expectant fathers also thought that television was unrealistic. Study 2 examined whether exposure to media representations of fathers influence beliefs about fathers.Participants were randomly assigned to one of two experimental conditions (1: incompetent father, 2: competent father), or the control condition, which portrayed these same characters in non-paternal roles. Participants who viewed clips of men in fathering roles said they believed that dads were important and should be actively involved in parenting. Participants who viewed incompetent fathers generated more incompetent and cold and distant words to describe fathers.Study 3 tested 1) who has more influence in the coparenting relationship (mothers, fathers or both), and 2) what predicts coparenting (i.e., gender role beliefs, marital satisfaction, and children’s difficult temperament) using longitudinal survey data from a study about familyadjustment after the birth of a second child. Although both parents were important in shaping coparenting conflict, fathers’ marital satisfaction strongly predicted coparenting cooperation. Children with difficult temperaments exacerbated coparenting difficulties across the transition from one child to two. Using longitudinal couple-interview data from a study of second-time parents, Study 4 compared father involvement with two children in dual- and single-earner families to examine whether fathers’ childcare involvement with firstborns predicted fathers’ involvement with the infant over time and whether gender role beliefs predicted fathers’ involvement. Findings revealed that dual-earner fathers were more involved with both children than single-earner fathers. Dual-earner fathers who were more egalitarian increased their involvement with firstborns immediately after the birth of their second child. The overall dissertation evinces that television images impact beliefs about fathers’ roles and that children’s characteristics shape coparenting dynamics during the transition to second-time parenthood.