Gender Differences in Parenting Styles and Effects on the ... · PDF fileGender Differences in...
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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
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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
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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.
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GenderDifferencesandParenting
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
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GenderDifferencesandParenting
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.
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GenderDifferencesandParenting
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
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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.
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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
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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.
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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
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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13 Ithinkthatinthefuture,parentingwillbecomemoreequallydividedamong
mothersandfathersandinturnthiswillresultinchildrenfeelingsimilarlycloseto
bothparents.GanongandColeman(2001)believethatwearealreadymovingtoward
thesocialidealoffathersasco‐parentswithmothers.Fatherstodayarecaringmorefor
theirchildrentodaythaninthepast(Sandberg&Hofferth,2001).
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SocialSkillsofMenandWomen.AppliedCognitivePsychology,19(6),745‐759.
Slavkin,M.,&Stright,A.(2000,January).GenderRoleDifferencesinCollegeStudents
fromOne‐andTwo‐ParentFamilies.SexRoles,42(1/2),23‐37.
Thompson,R.(2000,January).TheLegacyofEarlyAttachments.ChildDevelopment,
71(1),145.
Yaremko,S.,&Lawson,K.(2007,November).Gender,InternalizationofExpressive
Traits,andExpectationsofParenting.SexRoles,57(9/10),675‐687.
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16 Yeung,W.,Sandberg,J.,Davis‐Kean,P.,&Hofferth,S.(2001,February).Children'stime
withfathersinintactfamilies.JournalofMarriageandFamily,63(1),136‐154.
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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
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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
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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
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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.
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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.
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22 Author’sNote
Iamverygratefultomythesissupervisor,Dr.ShirleyOgletree.Withoutherhelp,
Iwouldnothavebeenabletodothisthesis.Iamveryappreciativeforthetimeand
effortthatshespenthelpingmeontheresearchandthewritingofthisthesis.Iwould
alsoliketothankherforlettingmegivemysurveytoherclassforextracredit.
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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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