Parents’ Fathering Identity Standards and Later Father Involvement

Abstract

Based on propositions from identity theory, this study used a sample of 1,596 coresident couples from the Fragile Families and Child Well-Being Study to examine whether parents’ fathering role centrality standards and fathers’ status centrality at the time of their child’s birth were associated with mother and father reports of father involvement 1 and 3 years later. Mothers and fathers who rated fathering roles as more important reported greater father involvement at both Years 1 and 3; centrality of the father status was associated with father reports of involvement at both years, and mother-reported involvement at Year 3. Interactions between fathers’ and mothers’ role centrality standards, and between parents’ role centrality standards and father status centrality, were found for mother reports of involvement at Year 3. Implications for research, practice, and theory are discussed.

Use of Identity Theory to Inform Fathering Scholarship

“…Although we recommend that scholars continue to pursue studies addressing identity structure, we also believe that focusing on identity processes is equally important and may be more fruitful as suggested by Adamsons and Pasley (). We concur with Dyer () that Burke's (; Burke & Cast, ) self‐verification model is potentially relevant to fathering scholarship.…”

“…Of the six studies focusing on both status‐ and role‐level identity and behaviors, findings from four studies show a link between the identity measures and behaviors (Adamsons & Pasley, ; Habib & Lancaster, ; Maurer et al, ; Thoits, ). Two exceptions are Rane and McBride () and Maurer et al ().…”

“…They further argued that supportive and unsupportiveness coexist but are distinct constructs and should be treated as such. Another characteristic of commitment posited to strengthen or weaken the association between identity and behavior was contextual commitment or “the material and symbolic characteristics of one's environment or situational context that encourage or inhibit the enactment of identity” (Adamsons & Pasley, , p. 168). They suggested that these additions help explain how a low‐resource father in a one‐bedroom apartment or an incarcerated father might deemphasize the salience of his fathering identities because of these environmental restrictions.…”

“…For example, a father who goes to prison may lose relationships (e.g., mother of the child) that support his identity as a nurturing man and gain relationships that support other identities (e.g., prison mates who support a “tough guy” identity). It is likely that such fathers adopt behaviors that reflect this new identity as a “tough guy.” Thus, context can have a powerful effect on commitment, altering the structure of the hierarchy and subsequently sustaining or extinguishing behaviors (Adamsons & Pasley, ).…”

An integrated developmental model for studying identity content in context.

“…On the individual level, for example, Adamsons and Pasley (2016) explored the salience and centrality of the role of father as couples transitioned to parenting, finding that greater father role centrality linked to higher levels of father involvement in subsequent years.…”