Paternal Involvement and the Development of Gender Expectations in Sons and Daughters

Abstract

Examining the role of fathers in the development of children's gender role orientations, we argue that the development of egalitarian views regarding work and parenthood depends less on the extent of father participation in family and more on the nature of that involvement. A longitudinal survey of 2,000 children is used to examine the experience of paternal involvement during childhood as well as the ongoing father/child relationship and the subsequent effects on sons' and daughters' gender role orientations and attitudes in young adulthood. Ordinary least squares regression analyses indicate that the ongoing father/child relationship is more important than paternal involvement in childhood and the effects are greater for sons than daughters.