The transition from expectancy to parenthood: Impact of the firstborn child on men and women

In this short-term longitudinal study, 31 middle-class primigravidae and their husbands were seen once during the last trimester of pregnancy and again when their infants were 6 months old. At both times, a common core of self-assessment instruments was administered: mood scales, social change ratings, anticipation/experience of parenthood, and a modified Bem satisfaction scale. Some additional items were given at parenthood. For both men and women, expectancy was marked by optimism and contentment, despite some emotional and physical strain. Similarly, as parents of an infant, subjects rated the experience as highly positive. However, the transition to parenthood involved major role upheaval with both more positive and more negative changes reported by women than men. Despite these changes, women displayed considerable stability in mood and self-satisfaction over time and situation. In contrast, measures of the anticipation and self-reported experience of parenthood revealed no consistency for women; the types of mothers they turned out to be were unrelated to their expectations. Men successfully predicted their parenting behavior on more than half of the dimensions measured. The results were discussed in terms of the stresses inherent in role changes encountered during transitions from one stage of life to the next.This research was supported by funds from the Boystown Center for the Study of Youth Development at Stanford University. Special thanks to Barbara Aschenbrenner for her assistance in all phases of the research.     

Tutor Attributions and Attitude As a Function of Tutee Performance1

In a single-session tutoring situation, a sixth-grade tutor taught a concept-formation task to a third-grade tutee. Over the series of trials, performance of the tutee was controlled to create differential patterns of success and failure on the task: success-success, failure-failure, success-failure, and failure-success. Results showed that sequence of performance exerted a strong impact on the tutor's attributions of ability and affective responses concerning the tutee. The tutee's initial performance had greater impact on the tutor's reactions than later performance, indicating a strong primacy effect. Differential performance by the tutee did not affect the tutor's evaluation of his own teaching ability.     

Responsiveness to babies: Life-situation specific sex differences in adulthood

Responsivity to babies was observed in 96 mature adults representative of three junctures of parenthood: parents of infants, parents of 8-to-9-year-olds, and parents of adolescents. Among the measures used were reactions to an unfamiliar infant in a waiting room, interest in pictures of babies versus other objects, and sex-role concept and attitudinal questionnaires. Stage of family life cycle affected women's responsivity, but not men's. New mothers displayed a heightened generalized interest in babies which is optimally timed and functional in terms of sex-differentiated role requirements. A possible confounding between cohort effects and stage in the family life cycle was examined and rejected. Traditionally sex-typed behaviors were reinterpreted as life-situation specific rather than general traits.This study was supported by grants from NIMH (1 R03 MH28264-01) and from Boys Town Center for the Study of Youth Development, Stanford University. The authors thank Barbara Aschenbrenner for her invaluable assistance in all phases of the research.