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Biological Essentialism, Gender Ideologies, and Role Attitudes: What Determines Parents’ Involvement in Child Care

Biological Essentialism, Gender Ideologies, and Role Attitudes: What Determines Parents’... This study draws on Bem’s conceptualization (The lenses of gender: Transforming the debate on sexual inequality. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1993) of biological essentialism to explore fathers’ and mothers’ involvement in child care. The relationships between parental essentialist perceptions, gender ideology, fathers’ role attitudes, and various forms of involvement in child care were examined. Two hundred and nine couples with 6–36-month-old children completed extensive questionnaires. Analyses revealed that fathers’ essentialist perceptions predicted involvement in child care tasks and hours of care by the mother, whereas mothers’ essentialist perceptions predicted hours of care by the father. Parents’ attitudes toward the father’s role predicted involvement in child care tasks. Parents’ attitudes and perceptions contributed to involvement in child care even after the effects of the parents’ employment were controlled. The importance of examining various aspects of parents’ views, and distinguishing different forms of involvement in child care is discussed. http://www.deepdyve.com/assets/images/DeepDyve-Logo-lg.png Sex Roles Springer Journals

Biological Essentialism, Gender Ideologies, and Role Attitudes: What Determines Parents’ Involvement in Child Care

Gaunt, Ruth
Sex Roles , Volume 55 (8) – Nov 28, 2006
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References (52)

Publisher
Springer Journals
Copyright
Copyright © 2006 by Springer Science+Business Media, LLC
Subject
Psychology; Gender Studies; Sociology, general; Medicine/Public Health, general
ISSN
0360-0025
eISSN
1573-2762
DOI
10.1007/s11199-006-9105-0
Publisher site
See Article on Publisher Site

Abstract

This study draws on Bem’s conceptualization (The lenses of gender: Transforming the debate on sexual inequality. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 1993) of biological essentialism to explore fathers’ and mothers’ involvement in child care. The relationships between parental essentialist perceptions, gender ideology, fathers’ role attitudes, and various forms of involvement in child care were examined. Two hundred and nine couples with 6–36-month-old children completed extensive questionnaires. Analyses revealed that fathers’ essentialist perceptions predicted involvement in child care tasks and hours of care by the mother, whereas mothers’ essentialist perceptions predicted hours of care by the father. Parents’ attitudes toward the father’s role predicted involvement in child care tasks. Parents’ attitudes and perceptions contributed to involvement in child care even after the effects of the parents’ employment were controlled. The importance of examining various aspects of parents’ views, and distinguishing different forms of involvement in child care is discussed.

Journal

Sex Roles – Springer Journals

Published: Nov 28, 2006

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