Contributions of television use to beliefs about fathers and gendered family roles among first-time expectant parents.

Abstract

TV content has been documented to portray a limited range of gender roles, and to frequently depict fathers as incompetent parents. Accordingly, this study explored whether first-time expectant parents' beliefs about gendered family roles and the importance of fathers to child development were related to their TV use. Participants were 201 individuals (122 women, 79 men) from across the United States expecting their first biological child in a cohabiting heterosexual relationship. Participants completed an online survey assessing weekly TV exposure, exposure to TV programs featuring fathers, perceived realism of TV, use of TV to learn about the world, and beliefs about both fathers' importance to child development and family gender roles. Zero-order correlations indicated that increased exposure to TV in general and to programs featuring fathers, perceived realism, and stronger learning motives were each linked to less egalitarian gender role beliefs in both women and men. Among women, heavier exposure to TV in general and to programs featuring fathers, and stronger learning motives were each correlated with weaker beliefs that fathers were important to child development. Multiple regression analyses, however, indicated that attributing more realism to TV content uniquely predicted more traditional gendered family role beliefs and beliefs that fathers are less important to child development across the whole sample. Even among men with low perceived realism, greater exposure to TV fathers was linked with weaker beliefs that fathers were important to child development. First-time expectant fathers may be especially vulnerable to media messages about father roles.

Disparaged dads? A content analysis of depictions of fathers in U.S. sitcoms over time.

“…Given the potential of TV content to socialize viewers (Bandura, 2001; Gerbner & Gross, 1976; Morgan, 2009), particularly regarding masculine gender roles and norms (Giaccardi et al, 2016; Kuo & Ward, 2016; Scharrer & Blackburn, 2018), the depictions of sitcom fathers are important to understand. From the present study, it appears that, over time, viewers of U.S. family sitcoms increasingly received a message that positions fathers as relatively uninvolved in giving out advice, rules, or discipline to children, and when they do engage in these parenting interactions, they increasingly do so in a foolish and incompetent manner.…”

“…Both cultivation theory and social–cognitive theory have been used to explain TV’s role in shaping understandings of and conformity with gender roles and norms (Dill & Thill, 2007; Sink & Mastro, 2017). In fact, Kuo and Ward (2016) found that exposure to televised portrayals of incompetent fathers was correlated with holding less egalitarian beliefs about gender roles within a sample of heterosexual couples expecting their first child; depictions of fathers may have important real-world effects.…”

The Portrayal of Families across Generations in Disney Animated Films

“…Greenberg and colleagues found that heavy viewers were more likely to form the belief that real-world families show greater support and concern for one another. A more recent study examined beliefs about fathers, gendered roles, and television viewing habits among first-time expectant parents (Kuo and Ward 2016). Results suggested that an increased attribution of realism to televised content predicted belief in gendered family roles; additionally, heavy television viewers were more likely to downplay the role of the father as it relates to a child's development.…”

The life histories of teacher mothers: exploring a special situation

“…The print and TV media seem to have no such agenda when it comes to the portrayal of fathers (Kuo and Ward, 2016;Wadsworth, 2015 andEvans, 2015) with father figures on television, (Kuo and Ward, 2016), print (Evans, 2015) and in family films (Wadsworth, 2015). In Kuo and Ward's study of 201 men and women in the United States, they concluded that TV content reinforced traditional gendered family role beliefs about mothers being more important to child development.…”

“…Teacher-mothers construct images of what they perceive to be the expectations of society (Knowles et al, 2009), and whilst Aliyah describes her need to do some things for herself, she also describes this as selfish. The position taken is that she is being unkind or unfair in her attempt to have some time for herself and this is a worrying discourse -one that is not replicated in media portrayals of fatherhood (Evans, 2015;Kuo and Ward, 2016;Wadsworth, 2015).…”