Parental Involvement: Perceptions of Stay-at-Home Fathers

The purpose of this study was to explore how men and women differ in essentialist perceptions of gender roles and gender ideologies as they relate to attitudes about father involvement and stay-at-home fathers. There were a total of 442 undergraduate students who completed an online survey. Results indicated that there was a significant gender difference regarding perceptions of stay-at-home fathers’ masculinity, t (433) = 5.68, p = .000, with men perceiving stay-at-home fathers as more feminine (M = 3.12) than women (M=2.51). Also a significant difference was found between men and women concerning gender ideologies, t (435) = 5.53, p = .000 with men reporting more traditional gender ideologies (M = 2.45) than women perceived stay-at-home fathers to be (M = 2.11). There was also a significant negative correlation found between the belief in traditional gender roles and father involvement, r (436) = -.10, p = 0.34. As the belief in traditional gender roles increases father involvement decreases. With regards to essentialist perceptions there was no significant gender difference found. These findings illustrate that many factors can influence ones attitudes and perceptions of father involvement and stay-at-home fathers. However, addressing common gender role stereotypes may help increase father involvement in childcare