Which Fathers Are Sensitive to Maternal Gate Closing? Exploring How Gender Role Attitudes Moderate the Link Between Fathers' Perceptions of Gate Closing and Childcare Involvement

IF 3.7 2区社会学 Q2 PSYCHOLOGY, DEVELOPMENTAL

Sex Roles Pub Date : 2026-03-05 DOI:10.1007/s11199-026-01642-5

Shira Offer, Danny Kaplan

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引用次数: 0

Abstract

Previous research suggests that maternal gate closing discourages fathers from taking an active role in childcare. Focusing on the father's perspective, this study contributes to the literature on father childcare involvement by demonstrating how fathers' gender role attitudes relate to their experiences of maternal gate closing. Using a sample of employed fathers of children aged 0–6 in the United States drawn from the AmeriSpeak Panel ( N = 1,421), we first examined how fathers' perceptions of maternal gate closing were related to their involvement in three childcare domains: routine care, emotional engagement, and parental responsibility. We then tested moderation models to determine which fathers, based on their gender role attitudes, experienced gate closing as a deterrent and which fathers resisted it. Results indicate that higher levels of maternal gate closing were associated with lower involvement in all three childcare domains. However, endorsement of the male breadwinning ideal significantly moderated these associations. Whereas fathers who supported this norm reported lower involvement when perceiving maternal gate closing, those who rejected it demonstrated greater resilience and reported the highest levels of childcare involvement. This study highlights the complex role of fathers' beliefs, particularly those related to their sense of manhood and self-worth, in shaping family dynamics.

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哪些父亲对母亲关门敏感？探讨性别角色态度如何调节父亲关上门认知与育儿参与之间的联系

先前的研究表明，母亲关上大门会阻碍父亲在照顾孩子方面发挥积极作用。本研究着眼于父亲的视角，通过展示父亲的性别角色态度与母亲关上门的经历之间的关系，对父亲育儿参与的文献研究做出了贡献。我们使用来自AmeriSpeak Panel （N = 1421）的美国0-6岁儿童的受雇父亲样本（N = 1421），首先研究了父亲对母亲关闭大门的看法与他们在三个育儿领域的参与之间的关系：日常护理、情感投入和父母责任。然后，我们测试了适度模型，以确定哪些父亲，基于他们的性别角色态度，经历了关门作为一种威慑，哪些父亲抵制。结果表明，较高水平的母亲关闭门与较低的参与所有三个育儿领域。然而，对男性养家理想的认可显著地缓和了这些关联。然而，支持这一规范的父亲在感知到母亲关闭大门时，参与度较低，而拒绝这一规范的父亲表现出更强的适应力，并报告了最高水平的育儿参与度。这项研究强调了父亲的信仰，特别是那些与他们的男子气概和自我价值感有关的信仰，在塑造家庭动态方面的复杂作用。

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

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来源期刊

Sex Roles Multiple-

CiteScore

7.20

自引率

5.30%

发文量

期刊介绍： Sex Roles: A Journal of Research is a global, multidisciplinary, scholarly, social and behavioral science journal with a feminist perspective. It publishes original research reports as well as original theoretical papers and conceptual review articles that explore how gender organizes people’s lives and their surrounding worlds, including gender identities, belief systems, representations, interactions, relations, organizations, institutions, and statuses. The range of topics covered is broad and dynamic, including but not limited to the study of gendered attitudes, stereotyping, and sexism; gendered contexts, culture, and power; the intersections of gender with race, class, sexual orientation, age, and other statuses and identities; body image; violence; gender (including masculinities) and feminist identities; human sexuality; communication studies; work and organizations; gendered development across the life span or life course; mental, physical, and reproductive health and health care; sports; interpersonal relationships and attraction; activism and social change; economic, political, and legal inequities; and methodological challenges and innovations in doing gender research.