Stepfathers and Stepchildren: An Exploratory Analysis from Two National Surveys

Abstract

The highly emotional quality of divorce and remarriage has encouraged many lay persons to conclude that the children involved pay a heavy price in social and socialpsychological characteristics. Social scientists have produced research findings which conflict concerning the benefit or detriment of reconstituted families to the member children. Secondary analysis of questionnaire data jfrom the 1973 NORC General Social Survey and the 1973 University of Michigan Youth in Transition Survey tested the null hypothesis that there was no difference between respondents who had experienced stepfather families (N= 122) and respondents who had experienced natural-parent families (N = 2, 747) in selected social and socialpsychological characteristics. The social and social-psychological characteristics included: demographic, religious, stratification, political, crime and delinquency, general interpersonal relationships, interpersonal relationships concerning marriage and the family, and personal evaluation. The findings from both data sets were merged to demonstrate that there were no substantial differences between individuals who had experienced stepfather families in the selected social and social-psychological characteristics. Thus, as in a natural-parent family, children in stepfather families can experience a predominantly positive, predominantly negative, or mixed family milieu.