Attributions and Attitudes of Mothers and Fathers in the Philippines

Abstract

SYNOPSIS Objective. This article investigates the mean level and within-family similarities and differences in Filipino mothers' and fathers' attributions about success and failure in caregiving situations, and their progressive and authoritarian parenting attitudes. Design. Mothers and fathers in 95 families in metropolitan Manila in the Philippines completed interviews. Results. Controlling for parents' age, education, and possible social desirability bias, there was a significant gender difference in modernity of attitudes, with mothers exhibiting higher levels of modernity than fathers. There was a strong correlation in mothers' and fathers' authoritarian attitudes and moderate correlations in modernity of attitudes. There were neither parent gender effects nor concordance in the attributions of mothers and fathers. Conclusions. Cultural explanations are presented to account for the findings, specifically the sociocultural values that foster traditional attitudes favoring parental authority and child obedience, and the differences in gender and family roles of Filipino mothers and fathers.