gender differences in parenting styles and effects on the parent

Gender Differences in Parenting Styles and Effects on the Parent-

Child Relationship

Approved:

____________________________ Dr. Heather C. Galloway

Director, University Honors Program Approved: ____________________________ Dr. Shirley S. Ogletree Department of Psychology Supervising Professor

GENDER DIFFERENCES IN PARENTING STYLES AND

EFFECTS ON THE PARENT CHILD RELATIONSHIP

HONORS THESIS

Presented to the Honors Committee of

Texas State University-San Marcos

In Partial Fulfillment of

the Requirements

For Graduation in the University Honors Program

By

Meredith Ashley Stephens

San Marcos, Texas

May 2009

GenderDifferencesandParenting

1 Abstract

Thepurposeofthisstudywastodetermineiftherewereanygenderdifferencesin

parentingstylesandifso,measurehowtheyaffecttheparent‐childrelationship.

Participantsweregivenasurveyaskingbasicdemographicquestions,questionsabout

whichparent/parentstheyhavelivedwiththemost,andquestionsthatrelatedtothe

genderrolesofeachparent.ParticipantswerealsogiventheParentalBonding

Inventorythatmeasuresmaternalcareandoverprotectivenessandpaternalcareand

overprotectiveness.Thereweresignificantgenderdifferencesinthewaysthatparents

interactedwiththeirchildren.Forexamplemostyoungpeoplehavebeenraisedby

traditionalparentsandfeltclosesttotheirmothers.Mothersonaveragespentmore

timewiththeirchildreningeneralthanfathers,spentmoretimetakingcareoftheir

children,weremorelikelynottoworkfulltime,wereseenasmoreoverprotectiveand

morecaring,spentthemostqualitytimewiththeirchildren,andstillspeaktotheir

childrenmoreoftentoday.Anothergenderdifferencebetweenfathersandmotherswas

thatfathersweremorelikelytobeoverprotectiveoftheirdaughtersthantheirsons.

Theresultssupportedtraditionalgenderexpectations,withmothersspendingmore

timewiththeirchildrenandchildrenfeelingclosertotheirmotherswhengrowingup.


2 GenderDifferencesinParentingStylesandEffectsontheParent‐ChildRelationship

Genderrolesarebeliefsaboutthewaysinwhichindividual,familial,community

andsocietalrolesaredefinedbygender(Slavkin&Stright,2000).Traditionalgender

roles,whicharecommonintraditionalfamiliesinwhichthemaleisthebreadwinner

andthefemaleisinchargeofchildcareandhousekeeping,definemasculinityasbeing

independent,assertive,andaggressive(Eagly&Steffen,1984;Eagly,1987).Femininity

isdefinedasbeingnurturing,sensitiveandemotional(Slavkin&Stright,2000;Bem,

1981).

Itiscommonknowledgethatthereareoftentwoseparatespheresinthe

household,especiallyinmanytraditionalmarriagesbetweenamanandawoman.The

man’ssphereisusuallyoutsidethehomeintheworkplace.Thewoman’ssphereis

insidethehometakingcareofhouseholdchoresandthechildren.

Familieshavechangeddrasticallyfromthestereotypical1950’sstay‐at‐home

momandtheworkingdad.Gerson(2002)foundthatbothmenandwomenoften

expressedstronglyegalitarianattitudestowardparenting.However,eventhoughmost

mothersfromthe1980’stotodayworkoutsidethehome,thereisstillwhatiscalledthe

secondshiftofhouseworkandchildcarewhenthewomangetshomefromafulldayof

work(Hochschild,2003).Mothers,onaverage,spendmoretimetakingcareofchildren

thanfathers(Craig,2006).Itmayfollowthatchildrenwouldfeelmoreemotional

closenesstotheirmothersthantheirfathersbecausetheyhavespentmoretimewith

theirmothers.

Folbreetal(2001)saidthattakingcareofchildrenisacomplicatedmixtureof

workandloveinwhichtherelationshipitselfisveryimportant.Researchershave


3 beguntostudytheaffectofthechild’sattachmenttothefatheraswellasthemother

(Thompson,2000).Father’srelationshipswiththeirchildrenareactuallyvery

important,despitewhatmanypeoplemaythink.AccordingtoDaltonIII,Frick‐Horbury,

andKitzmann(2006)reportsoffather’sparenting,butnotmothers,wererelatedtothe

qualityofcurrentrelationshipswitharomanticpartner.Also,father’sparentingwas

relatedtotheviewoftheselfasbeingabletoformcloseandsecurerelationships

(Daltonetal,2006).

TheresultsofastudyconductedbyCraig(2006)foundthatmothersweremore

likelythanfatherstospendnotonlymoretimeoverallwiththeirchildren,butalso

moretimemultitasking,morephysicallabor,amorerigidtimetable,moretimealone

withchildren,andmoreoverallresponsibilityfortheircare.Craig(2006)alsofound

thatthesegenderdifferencesintheamountoftimespentwithchildrenaswellasthe

circumstancesstatedabovearethesameevenwhenthemotherworksfulltime.

Fatherswerefoundtobemorelikelytospendtimewiththeirchildrenbyplayingwith

them,talkingwiththem,engagingineducationalandrecreationalactivitiesmorethan

anyotherkindsofcaring(Craig,2006).Otherresearchhasconsistentlyfoundthat

mothersstillspendtwotothreetimesasmuchtimewithchildrenasfathers(Baxter,

2002;Yeung,Sandberg,Davis‐Kean,&Hofferth,2001).

Thereasonforthegenderdifferenceinhowmuchtimemothersandfathers

spendwiththeirchildrenisprobablynotduetothefactthatfathersdon’twantto

spendtimewiththeirchildren.Infact,Milkie,Mattingly,Nomaguchi,Bianchi,and

Robinson(2004)foundthatmensaidthattheywantedtospendmoretimewiththeir

children.


4 Onecommonviewofmothersisthattheyareoftenoverinvolvedintheir

children’slives,whilefathershaveamuchlessinvolvedapproach,beingmostly

playmatesfortheirchildren(Craig,2006).Also,perhapsitismoreacceptablefor

womentoshowaffectionthanmen,soitmightbemoredifficultformentoshow

affectiontowardstheirsons.

Womenareoftenperceivedasmorenurturinginoursociety,andmanypeople

thinkthatwomenarebetterattakingcareofchildrenthanmenare(Craig,2006).Men

andwomenareoftenbelievedtohavecertaintraitsthatmakemenmoresuccessfulin

theworkplace,andwomenarebetterattakingcareofchildren.Pohl,Bender,and

Lachmann(2005)foundthatwomentendtoshowmoreempathythanmen,andmen

tendtobemoreassertivethanwomen.Peoplemayassumethatthatfindingappliesto

allmenandwomenandthattherecannotbeassertivewomenandempatheticmen.

Therefore,societyoftentendstoassumethatallwomenshouldtakecareofchildren

andallmenshouldfocusonworkandleavethechildrearingtothemother.Itisalso

assumedthatmothersshouldhaveacloserrelationshiptotheirchildrenthanthe

fathersbecausemothersaresupposedtobemorefocusedontheirchildren.

FormyresearchIexpectthatmanyofthepeopleinthissurveywerenotreared

bytheirfathers,thattheydidnotspendmuchtimewiththeirfathersandthattheywill

havespentmoretimewiththeirmotherswhentheygrowingupthantheirfathers.I

expectthisresultbecausemanypeoplethinkthattakingcareofchildrenismostlythe

responsibilityofthemother,notthefather.Singlemothersaremuchmorecommon

thansinglefathers,andyouaremorelikelytohearofastayathomemomratherthana

stayathomedad.Inaddition,whentwoparentsofachilddivorceeachother,Ithink


5 thatitismorecommontohearofthemothergettingcustodythanthefather.Also,I

hypothesizethatbecausechildrenspendmuchmoretimewiththeirmotherswhen

theyaregrowingup,eveniftheygrowupwithbothparentsintheirlife,theywillbe

morelikelytofeelclosertotheirmothers.

Method

Participants

TheparticipantswereTexasStateUniversityundergraduates(N=302,95males,

207females)whoparticipatedforextracreditinasophomore‐leveldevelopmental

psychologyclass.Theparticipantsrangedinagefromyoungerthan18toolderthan25.

Oneparticipantwasunder18,89were18or19,122were20or21,67werebetween

22and25,and23wereolderthan25.Asubset,the180participants(54menand126

women)whoindicatedthattheylivedwithboththeirmotherandfatherequallywhen

theyweregrowingup,werethemaingroupthatwasthefocusofthisstudy.The

materialandmethodswereapprovedbyTexasStateUniversity’sInstitutionalReview

Board.

Materials

Thematerialsusedinthisstudywerefourstandardsurveyquestionsasking

abouttheparticipant’ssex,age,ethnicity,socioeconomicstatus,andonequestion

askingabouttheparticipant’sparents’relationshipstatus.Therewere13questions

askingaboutwhotheparticipantspentthemosttimewith,feltclosesttoowhile

growingupandcurrently,havethemostincommonwith,enjoyedspendingtimewith

themost,ect.


6 Thelast50questionsweretheParentalBondingInventory(PBI;Parker,Tupling

andBrown,1979)whichisa50questionself‐reportsurveyusingafour‐pointLikert

scale,rangingfrom“verylike”(1)to“veryunlike”(4),designedtoassessthe

individual’sperceptionofcareandoverprotectionfromeachparentduringthefirst16

yearsoftheindividual’slife.Onesetof25questionswascompletedforthemotherand

thenanothersetforthefather.Careinvolvesmeasuringparentalaffection,warmthand

empathy.Alowscoreinthiscategorymeansthattheindividualsawhis/hermother

and/orfatherascaring;ahighscoremeansthemotherand/orfatherwasperceivedas

cold,indifferentandrejecting.Overprotectionmeasuressuchparentalbehaviorsas

intrusivenessandinfantilization.Ifthemotherand/orfatherreceivedalowscorein

thiscategory,theywereseenasbeingoverprotectiveand/orcontrolling.Highscores

forthemotherand/orfathermeanthattheparentorparentspromotedindependence

intheirchild.Twelvequestionsassessedcare,whichgivesamaximumscoreof48.

Thirteenquestionsmeasuredoverprotection,whichgivesamaximumscoreof52.The

PBIhasgoodpsychometricpropertiesandisinsensitivetotheeffectsofthe

respondent’smood(Parker,1989).Parker(1989)alsoreportedsupportforthePBI’s

validityasameasureofbothactualandperceivedparentingbasedonstudiesusing

familycorroborativewitnesses,twinstudies,andstudiesusingindependentraters

(Parker,1989).AllquestionsinthesurveyarefoundintheAppendix.

DesignandProcedure

Beforethesurveywasgivenout,theparticipantswereinformedaboutwhatthe

surveywasaboutandabouthowlongitwouldtakethemtocompleteit.Therewere

consentformsthatwereavailablefortheparticipantstosign.Theparticipantswere


7 toldthattheydidnothavetocompletethesurveyiftheydidnotwanttoo.Theywere

toldnottoputtheirnamesanywhereonthesurvey.Therewasnotimelimitfor

completingthesurvey.

Afterthesurveywasfinished,theparticipantswerethankedfortheirtimeand

participationandgiveninformationaboutwhenandhowtheycouldfindoutaboutthe

resultsofthestudy.Theywerealsoallowedtokeepacopyoftheconsentformifthey

chosetodoso.

DataAnalysis

Datawereanalyzedusingthechisquares,t‐tests,andcorrelations.

Results

SurveyQuestions

Chi‐squaretestswereusedtoanalyzethefrequenciesofthequestionsbasedon

genderofthechildandgenderoftheparentforthesubsetofparticipantswholived

withtheirmotherandfatherequallywhilegrowingup.Outofthe302participants,180

livedwithbothparentsforthesameamountoftimewhengrowingup.Thisgroupof

180participantsmadeupthesubsetthatwetested.Thestudentsleftoutofthetest

were101studentswhospentmoretimelivingwiththeirmother,17studentswho

spentmoretimelivingwiththeirfather,and4studentswholivedwithneitherparent.

Regardingclosenesstoparentswhilegrowingup,81indicatedtheyfeltclosettotheir

mother,32closesttotheirfather,and63feltequallyclosetobothparts,X2(2)=20.94,

p<.001.Similarly,forwhich“parentspentthemosttimetakingcareofyouwhenyou

weregrowingup,”120participantsindicatedtheirmother,7indicatedtheirfather,and

52saidbothequally,X2(2)=108.48,p<.001.


8 Seetableonnextpage:

Table1:Frequenciesofparentalrelationshipitemsforparticipantswhogrewupliving

withbothparentsequally

Item Mother Father BothEqually ChiSquare

Feltclosesttoo

growingup

81 32 63 20.94***

Caretakingtime

growingup

120 7 52 108.48***

Punishedmost 52 61 61 .93

*p<.05

**p<.01

***p<.001

ParentalBondingInventory

Forparticipantswhoindicatedthattheylivedequallywiththeirmothers

andfathersgrowingup,motherswerefoundtobemorecaring,t(158)=‐5.236,p<

.001;andmoreoverprotectivethanfathers,t(159)=‐2.720,p<.01.Pearson

correlationswereusedtocomparerelationsamongthecaring/overbearingvariables.

Themorecaringamotherwas,thelesslikelyshewastobeoverprotective,r(162)=‐

.24,p<.01.Also,themorecaringthefatherwas,thelesslikelyhewastobe

overprotective,r(161)=‐.32,p<.001.Ifthemotherwasperceivedasbeingcaring,the

fatherwasalsoseenascaring,r(159)=.27,p<.001.Also,themoreoverprotectivea

fatherwas,themoreoverprotectivethemotherwasaswell,r(160)=.56,p<.001


9 Regardingdifferencesinparentalcaring/overprotectiondependingon

participants’gender,onlyoneofthefourcomparisonsweresignificant.Womenwere

morelikelythanmentoindicatethattheirfatherswereoverprotective,t(168)=2.62,p

<.01.

Dataregardingparentalcloseness,caretaking,andpunishmentareportrayedin

Table1(Seeabove)andFigures1,2,and3(Seeappendix).

Discussion

Thisstudyfocusedonthe180participantswholivedwithbothparentsequally;

101participants,almostasmanyparticipants,livedmostlyoronlywiththeirmother.

Only17participants,amuchsmallernumber,livedmostlyoronlywiththeirfather,and

fourparticipantslivedwithsomeoneotherthanabiologicalparentorparents.Ifwe

hadnotisolatedandanalyzedtheparticipantswholivedwithbothparentsequally,

therelikelywouldhavebeenevengreaterparentaldifferences,especiallyregarding

whichparenttheparticipantfeltclosesttoandspentthemosttimewithsincechildren

aremostlikelytolivewiththeirbiologicalmother,regardlessofwhetherornotthey

alsolivewiththeirbiologicalfather.Thisillustratesthegenderexpectationthatitisthe

woman’sresponsibilitytotakecareofherchildren.

Manyofthefindingsofthissurveygoalongwithstereotypicalbeliefsabout

parenting,forexample,thefindingthatfathersaresignificantlymoreoverprotectiveof

theirdaughtersthanoftheirsons.Thisprobablyhastodowiththebeliefthatwomen

needprotectionfrommenandthatmenaremoreindependentandcanmaketheirown

decisions.Also,thefindinginthisstudythatmothersaremoreoverprotectiveand

caringthanfathersprobablyhastodowiththefactthatmothersspendmoretimewith


10 theirchildrenthanfathers.Stereotypically,afather’sroleisoftenseenasaprovider

role,andamother’sroleisseenasthecaretaker’srole(Gerson,2002).Alsothefinding

thatmothersareperceivedonaverageasspendingmoretimetakingcareoftheir

childrenthanfathersevenwhenworkingfulltimesupportswhatweknowaboutthe

secondshiftandmenandwomen’sperceivedresponsibilityinandoutofthehome

(Hochschild,2003).

ThesecondshiftasdefinedbyHochschild(2003)iswhenawomancomeshome

afterafulldayofworkandhasasecondshiftofhousework,cookingandtakingcareof

thechildren,whileherhusbanddoesnotdomuchoranyofthiswork.Thesecondshift

accountsforanextramonthofhouseworkandchildcareayearforwomen(Hochschild

2003).Forparticipantsinmysubsamplewholivedwithbothparentsequallygrowing

up,themajorityhadmothers(93of179)andfathers(169of180)whoworkedfull

time.Manychildrenwhohavetwoparentsthatworkfulltimeareputintodaycareor

leftwithafamilymemberorbabysitter.Ifonlyoneparentworkedfulltimeitwas

probablythefather,givingthemothertheentiredaywiththechildren.Whenthe

employedparentscomehomefromwork,thesecondshiftbeginsforthemotherwho

spendsmuchofthistimecooking,cleaningandtakingcareofthechildren.Often,since

menusuallymakemoremoneythanwomen,women’sincomeisseenassupplemental

andifachildissick,theresponsibilityusuallylieswiththemothertostayhomefrom

worktotakecareofthechild(Yaremko&Lawson,2007).

Thecorrelationsthatwerefoundinthisstudywerealsoveryinteresting.The

morecaringamotherorfatherwas,thelesslikelytheyweretobeviewedbytheiradult

childrenasoverprotectiveandviceversa.Itseemsthatbeingover‐protectivemaybe


11 theoppositeofbeingcaringformanyparticipantsandtheirparents.Another

interestingfindingwasthatifthemotherorfatherwasperceivedascaring,theother

parentwasalsoverylikelytoberegardedasbeingcaring.Alsoifoneparentwas

consideredoverprotective,theotherparentwasalsomorelikelytobeseenas

overprotective.Perhapsitislesslikelyforoneparenttobecaringandtheother

overprotective.Mostparentsappeartohavesimilarstyles,atleastintheeyesoftheir

collegestudentchildren,asfarascaringandoverprotectiongo.Also,averyinteresting

genderdifferencethatwasfoundinthissurveyisthatfemalestudentsweremorelikely

thanmalestudentstoindicatethattheyhadoverprotectivefathers.

Thisstudyhassomelimitations.Firstofall,thestudyshouldbereplicated.Even

thoughthisstudyusedafairlylargesamplesize(302undergraduatestudents),there

weretwiceasmanywomenthanmen(95males,207females.)Thisstudycouldhave

beenimprovediftherewereasmanymenandwomen,sothattherecouldhavebeena

morerepresentativesampleofmales.Also,thenumberofparticipantswasmadeeven

smallerbecauseweonlyanalyzedtheparticipantswholivedwiththeirmotherand

fatherequallywhengrowingup.Thisleft180participantsoutoftheoriginal302.These

resultsmaynotbereplicatedinthelargerpopulationandmayhavebeendifferentifthe

surveyhadbeengiventoadifferentagegrouportwoparticipantslivinginadifferent

areaofthecountry.

Also,perhapsasocialdesirabilitybiasaffectedthedata;itispossiblethatsome

participantsdidnotwanttosaythattheyfeltclosertooneparentthantheother.

Faultymemorycouldalsohavebeenafactorsincethestudywasdoneretrospectively;

perhapsparticipantscouldnotaccuratelyrememberthingsabouttheirparentswhen


12 theyweregrowingup.Anotherfactorthatmighthaveaffectedthesurveyisthatthe

participantstookthesurveyaftertakingatest,sotheymightnothavethoughtvery

carefullyaboutthequestionsandmightnothaveansweredthemasaccuratelyasthey

wouldhaveiftheyhadnotjusttakenatestthathadexhaustedthemmentally.

Inconclusion,mostyoungpeopleinthissubsamplehavehadtraditionalparents

andfeltclosesttotheirmothers.Mothersonaveragespentmoretimewiththeir

childreningeneralthanfathers,spentmoretimetakingcareoftheirchildren,were

seenasmoreoverprotectiveandmorecaring,andspentthemostqualitytimewith

theirchildren.Eventhough,intheParentalBondingInventory,motherswereseenas

moreoverprotective,femalestudentsweremorelikelytosaythattheyhadover

protectivefathersthanmalestudentswere.AlthoughIdidfinddatasupporting

traditionalgenderroles’continuinginfluenceonparenting,someindicationwasalso

foundthatparticipantsfeelclosetobothparentsasadults.Oftheparticipants,76(of

176)indicatedthattheyfeltequallyclosetobothparentstoday,and69(of171)

participantsequallytalkedtoorsawbothparents.Also,overhalfoftheparticipants

indicatedthattheyenjoyedspendingtimewithbothparentsequally.

Inthefuture,itwouldbebeneficialtodomoresurveysaboutfemalesbeing

morelikelythanmalestoindicatethattheyhadoverprotectivefathers.Therehasnot

beenmuchresearchdoneinthisarea.Also,itwouldbebeneficialiftherewasmore

researchdoneonstayathomedads,becausetheyareanimportantandgrowing

population.Fromthesefamilies,itwouldbeinterestingtolearnabouttherelationships

betweenthefatherandchildren,andifitisverydifferentfromfathersthatwork

outsidethehome.


13 Ithinkthatinthefuture,parentingwillbecomemoreequallydividedamong

mothersandfathersandinturnthiswillresultinchildrenfeelingsimilarlycloseto

bothparents.GanongandColeman(2001)believethatwearealreadymovingtoward

thesocialidealoffathersasco‐parentswithmothers.Fatherstodayarecaringmorefor

theirchildrentodaythaninthepast(Sandberg&Hofferth,2001).


14 References

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householdlabourinAustralia,1986‐1997.JournalofSociology,38(4),399‐424.

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Review,88,354‐364

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HowMothersandFathersinIntactFamiliesSpendTimewithChildren.Gender&

Society,20(2),259‐281.

Dalton,W.,Frick‐Horbury,D.,&Kitzmann,K.(2006,January).Youngadults'

retrospectivereportsofparentingbymothersandfathers:Associationswith

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womenandmenintosocialroles.JournalofPersonalityandSocialPsychology,

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stereotypes.


15 Gerson,K.(2002,February).MoralDilemmas,MoralStrategies,andtheTransformation

ofGender:LessonsfromTwoGenerationsofWorkandFamilyChange.Gender&

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SocietyStudiesWorldwide,Ipswich,MA.

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16 Yeung,W.,Sandberg,J.,Davis‐Kean,P.,&Hofferth,S.(2001,February).Children'stime

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17 Appendix

Pleasefillinyourscantronwiththeappropriateletterforeachitem.1.Yoursex a.Male b.Female 2.Age a.Youngerthan18 b.18or19 c.20or21 d.22‐25 e.Olderthan25 3.Ethnicity

a.Caucasian/Whiteb.AfricanAmericanc.Hispanic/LatinAmericand.Asiane.Other

4.Howwouldyoudescribeyoursocioeconomicstatus? a.Upperclass b.Upper‐middleclass c.Middleclass d.Lower‐middleclass e.Lowerclass5.Parentsrelationshipstatus a.Biologicalparentsmarried b.Biologicalparentsdivorcedfromeachother c.Biologicalparentswerenevermarried d.Motherisawidow e.Fatherisawidower

ParentingQuestions

6.Whichbiologicaloradoptiveparentdidyoulivewiththemostwhenyouweregrowingup? a.Biologicalmotherandfatherequally b.Biologicalmother c.Biologicalfather d.Neitherbiologicalparent


18 7.Whichbiologicaloradoptiveparentdidyouspendthemosttimewithwhenyouweregrowingup? a.Mother b.Father c.Bothparentsequally d.Didnotlivewitheitherparent8.Whichbiologicaloradoptiveparentwouldyousayyoufeelclosesttoowhenyouweregrowingup? a.Mother b.Father c.Bothparentsequally d.Didnotfeelatallclosetoeitherparent9.Whichbiologicaloradoptiveparentspentthemosttimetakingcareofyouwhenyouweregrowingup?(Cooking,cleaning,takingyoutoschool,ect.) a.Mother b.Father c.Bothparentsequally d.Neither10.Mostofthetime,didyourmotherworkwhileyouweregrowingup?

a.Nob.Yes,fulltimec.Yes,parttimed.Doesnotapply(livedwithfatherorotherfamilymember)

11.Mostofthetime,didyourfatherworkwhileyouweregrowingup?

a.Nob.Yes,Fulltimec.Yes,Parttimed.Doesnotapply(livedwithmotherorotherfamilymember)

12.Whichparentpunishedyouthemostasachild?a.Motherb.Fatherc.Bothparentsequally

d.Neither/doesnotapply13.Whichparentspentthemosttimeplayingwithyouasachild?

a.Motherb.Fatherc.Bothparentsequallyd.Neither


19 14.Whichparentdoyouthinkthatyouspentthemostqualitytimewithasachild?

a.Motherb.Fatherc.Bothparentsequallyd.Neither

15.Whichparentdoyoufeelclosesttootoday? a.Mother b.Father c.Bothparentsequally d.Neither16.Whichparentdoyoutalktoorseethemosttoday? a.Mother b.Father c.Bothparentsequally d.Neither17.Whodoyouhavemoreincommonwith? a.Mother b.Father c.Ihavethesameamountofthingsincommonwithbothparents d.Neither18.Whodoyouenjoyspendingthemosttimewith? a.Mother b.Father c.Bothparentsequally d.Neither

ParentalBondingInventory

Thisquestionnairelistsvariousattitudesandbehaviorsofparents.AsyourememberyourMother/Fatherinyourfirst16years,wouldyoupleaseindicatethemostappropriateresponsecategory.(Ifyoudidnotgrowupwithyourmotherorfather,pleaseleavethatsectionblank.)

Pleaseanswerthesefirst25questionsaboutyourmother.

Responsecategories:

a.VeryLikeb.ModeratelyLikec.ModeratelyUnliked.Veryunlike


20

19.Spoketomewithawarmandfriendlyvoice.20.DidnothelpmeasmuchasIneeded.21.LetmedothosethingsIlikeddoing.22.Seemedemotionallycoldtome.23.Appearedtounderstandmyproblems&worries24.Wasaffectionatetome.25.Likedmetomakemyowndecisions26.Didnotwantmetogrowup.27.TriedtocontroleverythingIdid28.Invadedmyprivacy29.Enjoyedtalkingthingsoverwithme30.Frequentlysmiledatme.31.Tendedtobabyme.32.DidnotseemtounderstandwhatIneededorwanted33.Letmedecidethingsformyself34.MademefeelIwasn’twanted35.CouldmakemefeelbetterwhenIwasupset36.Didnottalkwithmeverymuch.37.Triedtomakemedependentonher/him38.FeltIcouldnotlookaftermyselfunlessshe/hewasaround39.GavemeasmuchfreedomasIwanted40.LetmegooutasoftenasIwanted.41.Wasoverprotectiveofme42.Didnotpraiseme43.LetmedressinanywayIpleased

Pleaseanswerthesesecond25questionsaboutyourfather.

Responsecategories:

a.VeryLikeb.ModeratelyLikec.ModeratelyUnliked.Veryunlike

44.Spoketomewithawarmandfriendlyvoice.45.DidnothelpmeasmuchasIneeded.46.LetmedothosethingsIlikeddoing.47.Seemedemotionallycoldtome.48.Appearedtounderstandmyproblems&worries49.Wasaffectionatetome.50.Likedmetomakemyowndecisions51.Didnotwantmetogrowup.


21 52.TriedtocontroleverythingIdid53.Invadedmyprivacy54.Enjoyedtalkingthingsoverwithme55.Frequentlysmiledatme.56.Tendedtobabyme.57.DidnotseemtounderstandwhatIneededorwanted58.Letmedecidethingsformyself59.MademefeelIwasn’twanted60.CouldmakemefeelbetterwhenIwasupset61.Didnottalkwithmeverymuch.62.Triedtomakemedependentonher/him63.FeltIcouldnotlookaftermyselfunlessshe/hewasaround64.GavemeasmuchfreedomasIwanted65.LetmegooutasoftenasIwanted.66.Wasoverprotectiveofme67.Didnotpraiseme

68.LetmedressinanywayIpleasedThankyouforparticipatinginoursurvey.


22 Author’sNote

Iamverygratefultomythesissupervisor,Dr.ShirleyOgletree.Withoutherhelp,

Iwouldnothavebeenabletodothisthesis.Iamveryappreciativeforthetimeand

effortthatshespenthelpingmeontheresearchandthewritingofthisthesis.Iwould

alsoliketothankherforlettingmegivemysurveytoherclassforextracredit.


23 FigureCaptions

Figure1:Whichparentwastheparticipantclosesttoowhilegrowingup?1.00,themost

commonchoiceisthemother(F=81).2.00,theleastcommonchoiceisthefather

(F=32).3.00isbothparentsequally(F=63).

Figure2:Whichparentdoestheparticipantfeelclosesttootoday?1.00,themother

(F=73),2.00,thefather(F=27),3.00,bothparentsequally,(F=76).

Figure3:Whichparentspentthemosttimetakingcareoftheparticipantwhenthey

weregrowingup?1.00,themother(F=120).2.00,thefather(F=7).3.00,bothparents

equally(F=52).

Figure4:Didtheparticipant’smotherworkwhiletheparticipantwasgrowingup?1.00,

No(F=51).2.00,Yes,fulltime(F=93).3.00,Yes,parttime(F=35).

Figure5:Didtheparticipant’sfatherworkwhiletheparticipantwasgrowingup?1.00,

No(F=6).2.00,Yes,fulltime(F=169).3.00,Yes,parttime(F=5).


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gender differences in parenting styles and effects on the parent

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