Of Marmosets and Men: Triplet Families as an Ecological Context That Generates High Father Involvement

Abstract

This study explored the relevance of a theoretical framework that predicts male investment in offspring in nonhuman primates for understanding paternal involvement in human fathers. We explored the research question: Do the increased demands for childcare in triplet families provide an ecological context that leads to relatively high paternal involvement? The article reports findings based on 20 families, using a combination of qualitative and quantitative methods. Although most of the fathers were the single or primary breadwinners, their high level of involvement was more characteristic of fathers in dual-earner families. Paternal involvement began early, i.e. during their wife’s pregnancy, and was comprehensive, i.e. extended to virtually all childcare tasks. In addition, many of the fathers expressed work-family conflicts more typically reported by working mothers. Thus the study’s findings provide some support for the Reciprocity Hypothesis, a theoretical framework based in behavioral ecology.