Attitudes about Stay-At-Home Fathers

Research has shown that stay-at-home fathers are evaluated more negatively than stay-at-home mothers (Rosenwasser, Gonzalez, and Adams 1985; Kroska 2001) and working parents (Brescoll and Uhlmann 2005). Stay-at-home fathers who are also breadwinners have been evaluated more positively than stay-at-home fathers who do not contribute financially to their families (Rosenwasser, Gonzalez, and Adams 1985). Participants in the present study were 236 students enrolled in undergraduate classes on the UNH Durham campus. Each participant read a description of one of six hypothetical parents and answered questions about his or her attitudes toward the hypothetical parent as well as his or her perceptions of others’ attitudes toward the parent. Results indicated that UNH Durham students do not hold especially negative attitudes toward stay-at-home fathers, although they believe that others see stay-at-home fathers as less successful and less respected by their coworkers than employed parents and stay-at-home mothers