Men's perceptions of parenthood based on parenting experience

Abstract

The egalitarianization of family relations is filling the gaps in research on the beliefs of future parents about gender roles in the family and the importance of fathers for child development. Therefore, the aim of the study is to identify the characteristics of men's ideas about parenthood, depending on the presence or absence of parenting experience. Methods (N = 45): questioning; testing according to the questionnaire of parental relations (Varga A.V., Stolin V.V.); identification of the concept of ideal parent according to the method of R.V. Ovcharova; child-parent interaction according to the method of I.M. Markovskaya; calculation of Student's t-test). The results of the study show that, depending on parenting experience, these perceptions and characteristics in men change. It was determined that the formation of paternity is a complex, multifaceted process and goes through several stages: from stereotypical ideas about paternity (the so-called theoretical period, when a man is not a father), to a practical period when stereotypes are rethought and real practical interaction with the child leads to more realistic assessment of their own behavior. In particular, in the group where the men had no experience of fatherhood, the overestimated ideas about themselves as a parent were recorded (t = 2.45; p≤0.05). In the group where men had a parenting experience, there were an awareness of the style of parent-child relationships, psychologically safe emotional ties, adherence to the principles of exactingness and consistency of the family educational process (t = 3.47; p≤0.01). The subjects who are preparing to become fathers in the near future showed a desire to establish a symbiotic relationship with the child, anxiety for the unborn child, which manifests itself in increased attentiveness to the pregnant spouse, gentleness in relationships (t = 3.41; p≤0.01). The subjects who are preparing to become fathers in the near future showed a desire to establish a symbiotic relationship with the child, anxiety for the unborn child, which manifests itself in increased attentiveness to the pregnant spouse, gentleness in relationships (t = 1.96; p≤0.05).