Implicit Motives and Men’s Perceived Constraint in Fatherhood

Abstract

Research shows that implicit motives influence social relationships. However, little is known about their role in fatherhood and, particularly, how men experience their paternal role. Therefore, this study examined the association of implicit motives and fathers’ perceived constraint due to fatherhood. Furthermore, we explored their relation to fathers’ life satisfaction. Participants were fathers with biological children (N = 276). They were asked to write picture stories, which were then coded for implicit affiliation and power motives. Perceived constraint and life satisfaction were assessed on a visual analog scale. A higher implicit need for affiliation was significantly associated with lower perceived constraint, whereas the implicit need for power had the opposite effect. Perceived constraint had a negative influence on life satisfaction. Structural equation modeling revealed significant indirect effects of implicit affiliation and power motives on life satisfaction mediated by perceived constraint. Our findings indicate that men with a higher implicit need for affiliation experience less constraint due to fatherhood, resulting in higher life satisfaction. The implicit need for power, however, results in more perceived constraint and is related to decreased life satisfaction.

Do Implicit Motives Influence Perceived Chronic Stress and Vital Exhaustion?

“…The present results suggest that individuals high in implicit affiliation motivation are more prone to experience stress and VE. This is in contrast to a previous study that found a buffering effect of implicit affiliation motive on the perception of constraint due to fatherhood in a sample of fathers (Ruppen et al, 2016 ). These divergent findings are likely the result of the interaction between motives and the specific situation.…”

“…A number of studies have shown that implicit power motive is involved in an individual's health and well-being (Wirth et al, 2006 ; Hall et al, 2010 ; Ruppen et al, 2016 ). In the present sample, however, implicit power motive was unrelated to any other variables.…”

“…It is coded whenever a character shows strong, forceful actions, tries to impress, provides unsolicited help, is concerned with reputation, or elicits strong emotions in others. The coder for the present study had attained over 85% inter-rater agreement on expert codings of calibration materials provided by Schultheiss ( 2015 ) and underwent several hours of scoring practice prior to coding (Ruppen et al, 2016 ). Scores from different subscales within a given motive domain were summed up.…”

“…In a sample of fathers, we operationalized the experience of stress by men's ratings of their perceived constraint due to fatherhood. The implicit motive for affiliation was related to less perceived stress, whilst implicit power motive had the opposite effect (Ruppen et al, 2016 ). Surprisingly, a literature search did not yield any studies investigating the role of implicit motives in social support.…”

Emotions and Steroid Secretion in Aging Men: A Multi—Study Report

“…In general, a relatively high socioeconomic status was observed, as reflected by the mean education level, with 59% reporting having completed tertiary or higher education. Participants in the sample were relatively healthy, with 91% of participants rating their general health as “outstanding,” “very good,” or “good,” and only 9% considering their health status to be “moderate” or “poor.” Prior published data of this sample can be reviewed here (Ruppen et al, 2016 ; Waldvogel and Ehlert, 2016 , 2017 ).…”