The emergent father role

Using data collected before and after birth of a couple's first child, change in each parent's view of men as fathers was investigated in a short-term longitudinal study. Semantic differential scales tapped the man's image of self as father, the woman's image of husband as father, and each parent's rating of the baby's adjustment. Interview questions provided information on circumstances of the birth, the father's early child care activities, and parents' previous child care experience. Men's judgments of their own effectiveness as fathers declined from before the birth to afterward. Wives' judgments of their husbands' effectiveness as fathers also declined over that same period, but wives rated husbands higher than husbands rated themselves at both times. A single-equation multiple regression model, adapted from a structural model, was estimated to explain change in both spouses' ratings of the man's paternal role competence. It revealed that working-class spouses agreed on the basis for their judgments of the father's role performance, in that both judged him mainly in terms of how much he participated in child care. Middle-class spouses disagreed on the basis for their judgments of fathers, however. The middle-class men rated their own performance in the father role mainly in terms of the baby's adjustment; if they judged the baby to be happier, they judged themselves to be more competent as fathers. The middle-class women did not rate fathers on that basis. Instead, the middle-class women's ratings responded to the circumstances of the birth and to the father's participation in child care chores. Findings are discussed in terms of family role theory, social-class differences in the father's role, and recent change in expectations for men's parental role.This research was supported by NIMH Grant No. MH15735 and earlier by NICHD Grant No. HD 13103.