ERIC Number: ED227961
Record Type: Non-Journal
Publication Date: 1982-Apr
Pages: 17
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Father-Infant Interaction and Sex Role.
Campbell, Nayna D.
An investigation was made of the relationship between sex-role orientation (as measured by the Bem Sex Role Inventory) and responsiveness in infant care (as determined by observations on the Nursing Child Assessment Feeding Scale). Subjects participating in the study consisted of 44 father/infant dyads. It was hypothesized that androgynous fathers would interact more responsively with their infants than would fathers with a sex-typed orientation and that fathers with a high degree of feminine traits would interact more responsively with their infants than fathers with a low degree of feminine traits. Classification of fathers yielded four sex-role orientation groups, including 13 androgynous, 9 masculine, 9 feminine, and 13 undifferentiated fathers. Findings indicated that (1) interaction scores were higher in dyads with female infants than in those with male infants, (2) androgynous fathers did not interact more responsively with their infants than did fathers with a sex-typed masculine orientation, (3) fathers with high feminine traits interacted more responsively with their infants than fathers with a low degree of feminine traits, and (4) masculinity was not negatively related to paternal responsiveness. Such findings suggest that femininity scores, not androgyny scores, predict paternal responsiveness in interaction. Of more general significance, it was found that 43 of the 44 fathers cared for their infants on a regular basis and that nearly 1 in 5 was the main caregiver. (RH)
Publication Type: Reports - Research; Speeches/Meeting Papers
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A