The Effects of Father Presence and Absence upon Maternal Attitudes

In order to examine possible mediating variables by which father presence and absence exercises its influence upon personality development of the child, efforts were made to study maternal attitudes under conditions of father presence and absence. The Parental Attitude Research Instrument (PAM) was...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of genetic psychology 1974-12, Vol.125 (1), p.257-263
Main Authors: Marsella, Anthony J., Dubanoski, Richard A., Mohs, Karen
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adult
Attitude
Authoritarianism
Child
Child Behavior
Dominance-Subordination
Father-Child Relations
Female
Humans
Imitative Behavior
Jealousy
Male
Marriage
Maternal Behavior
Mother-Child Relations
Paternal Behavior
Paternal Deprivation
Personality Development
Sex Factors
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Summary:In order to examine possible mediating variables by which father presence and absence exercises its influence upon personality development of the child, efforts were made to study maternal attitudes under conditions of father presence and absence. The Parental Attitude Research Instrument (PAM) was administered to wives of nuclear submarine personnel under counterbalanced conditions of father presence and absence. Significant differences were found on seven subscales as a function of the father's status. Four of the subscales reflected themes of maternal domination, and the remaining three reflected themes of marital dissatisfaction and discord. In all of the seven instances, scores were higher under conditions of father presence. This indicates that there is more breaking the will, strictness, intrusiveness, and acceleration of development (all maternal domination) and more martyrdom, rejection of homemaking role, marital conflict (all marital discord) when the father is present. The increased maternal control under conditions of father presence may be accounted for by modeling of the husband's behavior, complementary authoritarian role behavior, control of husband's attention, and changes in children's behavior. The increase in marital discord may be accounted for by the increased opportunity for argumentation during father presence and changes in children's behavior. Implications for child adjustment are also noted. Clearly, father presence and absence effects may be mediated by the alterations which occur in maternal attitudes under these conditions.
ISSN:0022-1325
1940-0896
DOI:10.1080/00221325.1974.10533214