Revisiting Men's Role in Father Involvement: The Importance of Personal Expectations

Abstract

Using fathers’ and mothers’ reports of expectations (measured prenatally) and father involvement (measured postnatally), we examined how both parents influence the likelihood that new fathers would be involved in instrumental (feeding, bathing, and changing the infant) and affective (playing and reading to the infant) caregiving activities. The study employed a longitudinal design with 68 couples participating in both the prenatal (e.g., approximately three months before the infant was born) and postnatal (e.g., between three to six months after the birth of the infant) phases of the study. Results indicate that both parents’ expectations are substantial predictors of instrumental involvement (as reported by both fathers and mothers), and that fathers’ expectations are stronger than mothers’ expectations for predicting affective involvement. Limitations follow.