Shared Experiences, Unique Realities: Formerly Married Mothers' and Fathers' Perceptions of Parenting and Custody After Divorce^*

Abstract

Many former spouses have different and often conflicting perceptions of their postdivorce circumstances, particularly as they relate to parenting and custody. Using a symbolic interactionism framework, our study examined the relationship between these perceptual differences and coparental conflict ( N = 112 ; representing 56 previously married couples). For both mothers and fathers, perceptual divergence regarding fathers' child‐rearing skills and perceptual divergence regarding mothers' willingness to be accommodating emerged as predictors of conflict. An overestimation of custody satisfaction by the former spouse also was associated positively with conflict.