A Study on the Different Dimensions of Fathers' Roles and

J. Home Econ. Jpn. Vol. 48 No. 8 677 •` 687 ( 1997 )

A Study on the Different Dimensions of Fathers' Roles

and Their Relations to Father-Child Interactions

Leading to Children's Self-Esteem

An Analysis of Data Provided by the Late Adolescent

Haruko FUYUKI and Hiroshi MOTOMURA *

Graduate School, Osaka City University, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka 558, Japan* Faculty of Life Sciences, Osaka City University, Sumiyoshi-ku, Osaka 558, Japan

Authors employed factor analysis to clarify the different dimensions of fathers' roles as perceived by

young children in relation to father-child interactions. Based on operationalism, authors endeavored to establish relationship between the different dimensions of fathers' roles and the father-child interactions as perceived by children. Children's self-esteem was also analyzed in terms of father-child interactions. Five hundred and seventy-five university and college students contributed to research, and the data provided by them were studied by factor analysis. Author obtained six different dimensions of fathers' roles, of which compassionate, leader-breadwinner and acceptance-teaching roles were associated with closer father-child interactions, have an influence on children's self-esteem. Authors speculate that the fathers' roles as well as father figure do exist in children's minds in spite of the frequent reference by mass media to the Japanese families functioning without father.

(Received August 26, 1996)

Keywords: fathers' roles, father-child relationship, self-esteem, factor analysis.

INTRODUCTION

Recent social and demographic change in Japan reveals that mothers are the primary caretakers and are responsible for childhood education (Kashiwagi

1993). The dichotomous division of labor by sex in nuclear family households has led mothers, some-times compulsively, to be responsible for these

functions. On the other hand, fathers in Japan are too busy working to be intimately involved with family

members (Furuichi 1978). Empirical studies show that Japanese fathers are

less involved with their children when compared to

their counterparts in other countries such as the United States and Germany (Soumucho Seishounen Taisakubu 1987). Kuntz (1994) compared the extent

of paternal involvement perceived by children and their fathers in Japan and the United States. As a result, it was found that American fathers spend almost twice as much time with their children as their

Japanese counterparts. This data suggests that the relationship between children and their fathers in

Japan is relatively poor.

Concerning the father role, it is likely that the

perceived fathers' roles are varied among different individuals and society's expectations of fathers' roles, and they are not similar to the perceived and

performed fathers' roles. Ishikawa (1992) investigated children's perceptions of their fathers' roles as well as fathers' perceptions of their own roles in their families. His investigation revealed that there are

differences between children's and fathers' percep-tions of the father role.

From a symbolic interactionism viewpoint, Macionis

(1987) made an important statement that parents and children typically have different perceptions of their family, because of their distinctive positions in it.

Therefore, family members' perceptions of their fathers' roles may be different depending on their relative positions in their family. In this context,

children's perceptions of their fathers' roles should be of primary concern if fathers' roles are related to children's personality development.

When considering children's personality develop-ment, self-esteem is one of the most critical factors

for late adolescence. Compared to childhood, late

( 677 ) 9

J. Home Econ. Jpn. Vol. 48 No. 8 ( 1997 )

adolescence is a time for major decision-making, unusual change and status ambiguity (Rosenberg 1965). Rosenberg investigated the relation between

children's self-esteem and fathers' support, interest and involvement with their children. He found fathers'

support, interest and involvement have a great impact on children's self-esteem. He also stated that mothers

and fathers are the only ones whose criticism children can not ignore. From this perspective, children's

self-esteem is considered to be "a product of parents' appraisal of their children," as reflected in the complexity of daily parent-child interaction. In addi-

tion, Rosenberg (1981) described children's self-es-teem as function of the reflected appraisal of significant others. In other words, children tend to see

themselves through the eyes of particular individuals such as their parents, teachers and peers.

These statements empirically suggest he is using

the symbolic interactionism perspective, especially if children's internalized fathers' roles are related to the

daily father-child interaction, which has an influence on children's self-esteem. The point which has not been clarified in previous studies is different

dimensions of fathers' roles and how these dimen-sions are related to father-child interaction which may influence children's self-esteem.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the

following: first, to clarify children's perception of their fathers' role dimensions; second, to examine the relationship between father role dimensions and

father-child interaction; and third, to clarify the effects of father-child interaction on children's

self-esteem.

METHODS

Subjects and procedure The subjects for this paper consist of 575 university

students from a public university (22.4 %), private universities (52.7 %) and a college (24.9 %). Their

ages are between 18 and 24 years old. Of these subjects, 279 (48.5%) are female and 296 (51.5%) are male. They are listed in Table 1. The students were

asked to fill out the questionnaire in and out of class. Analytical framework and analytical technique

The analytical framework of this paper is char-

acterized by the fact that different dimensions of fathers' roles are positioned as independent variables, for father-child interaction as an intervening variable

and children's self-esteem as a dependent variable. Analytical techniques used in this paper are as

follows: first, factor analysis for clarifying different

dimensions of perceived fathers' roles; second, multiple regression analysis for exploration of per-

ceived fathers' roles in relation to father-child interaction; and third, t-test for elucidation of the relationships between father-child interaction and

children's self-esteem.

INSTRUMENTS

1. The fathers' role scale The fathers' role scale includes 34 items selected

from the preliminary research on 60 students'

perceptions of their fathers' roles (see Table 2). The data was collected from interviews and bibliographical

studies on society's expectations for fathers' roles for children. More than 10 theories on fathers' roles were reviewed (Freud 1937; Parsons 1964; Lamb 1976; Nakane 1974; Benson 1968; Lynn 1978; Sasaki 1982;

Ishikawa 1992). To examine children's perceptions of their fathers'

roles, an attempt was made to focus the students' attention on their relationships with their fathers during childhood (up to 6th grade of primary school)

and to reflect on some events during their childhood. The instructions given to the subjects are as follows:

We would like you to think back to your

Table 1. Sample characteristics (N= 575; N (%))

10 ( 678 )

Different Dimensions of Fathers' Roles

childhood, namely, until you were in 6th grade.

Keep this period generally in mind when answering the following questions.

Option to answer questions is from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree" on a 4-point scale.

2. The father-child interaction scale The father-child interaction scale was constructed

on the basis of two sub-scales; first, father's

appreciation of their children, and second, children's warm-hearted attitudes toward their fathers. These two sub-scales were originally constructed by Mo-

rishita (1977), and used in his study. They were designed to measure the subject's current father-child

interaction. Answers were respectively selected from"

yes" to "no" on a 3-point scale.

3. The self-esteem scale

In this paper, Rosenberg's self-esteem scale

(Rosenberg 1965), translated to Japanese by Hoshino (1970) was employed as a measure of self-esteem. The items in this scale were answered from "strongly agree" to "strongly disagree" on a 4-point scale.

FINDINGS AND DISCUSSION

Dimensions of fathers' roles

To explore children's perceptions of their fathers' roles, factor analysis using varimax rotation on data from the 34 items of the fathers' role scale was

conducted. As a result, six conceptually different dimensions were extracted (with limiting Eigenvalue

of 1 or greater). Items with factor loading of 0.40 or

greater were used to identify the factors (Table 2). In the first factor, relatively higher factor loading

was indicated among items such as "Did your father

do anything you wanted?," "Was your father a good role model?," "Was your father respected by other family members?" and "Did your father take care of

your family when there was an emergency?." Paying

particularly close attention to the meaning of the items retained in this factor, they were conceptually divided into an acceptance-teaching dimension (item V5, V11, V13, V17, V21, V26) and a leader-

breadwinner dimension (item V16, V20, V30, V31). In the second factor, relatively higher factor

loading was indicated among the items such as "Did

your father cheer you up when you were depressed?" and "Did your father listen to your problems?." Therefore, the factor was named the compassionate

dimension (item V6, V10, V14, V19, V22, V28, V29, V33, V34). In the third factor, relatively higher factor loading was indicated among the items such as "Did

your father take you to the park on Sunday?," "Did

you and your father go places together?." Therefore, this factor was named the companionate dimension

(item V7, V9, V12, V23, V32). In the fourth factor, relatively higher factor loading

was indicated among the items such as "Did your

father get angry when you did not do what he said?" and "Did your father ever scare you?." Therefore, this factor was named the authoritarian-disciplinary di-

mension (item V2, V3, V4, V18, V27). In the fifth factor, relatively higher factor loading

was indicated among the items such as "Did your

father reward you for good behavior?" and "Did your father give you money when you did something

good?." Therefore, this factor was named the sanc-tions for reward and punishment dimension (item V8, V25).

Consequently, 5 factors which include 6 dimensions of fathers' roles accounted for 54.4 % of the variance

in 34 items. Each factor dimension yielded acceptable internal consistency coefficients for a for fathers' role scale (around/above 0.70). The fathers' role scale is

shown in Table 3. What must be noticed here is that children

perceived that their fathers are performing 6 different father roles. According to children's perceptions of their fathers' roles, the frequent indication by mass media that Japanese families are "fatherless" does not

seem to be true. In order to partially answer this

question, consideration needs to be focused on fathers' roles from the symbolic interaction viewpoint;

the symbolic meaning of fathers are redefined during interaction between self and significant others. Therefore, it is speculated that children's perceptions

of fathers' roles are considered as a projection of their memories of "their father concept" experienced during childhood. The findings in this paper may be

evidence against the frequent indication by mass media that the Japanese family is "fatherless." In this

context, the conceptual definition of paternal absence should be more clearly defined.

In addition, evidence suggests that children per-

ceived that their fathers perform not only the traditional roles, but also the non-traditional roles such as the compassionate and companionate roles. Although several causal factors exist for changing

fathers' roles, the rapid social change in Japan may be a big factor among them. As society changes, family and father roles must change in order to adapt to a

changing society. Hence, the family should be seen as a flexible socializing institution that responds to and

determines the changing characteristics of the

( 679 ) 11

J. Home Econ. Jpn. Vol. 48 No. 8 (1997)

Table 2. Factor analysis of fathers' role scale

12 (680)


society. To state it precisely, social and demographic changes, including changing value systems, increases

the diversity of families (e.g. dual-worker families and single-parent families), which leads to changing fathers' roles. Also, consequent change of family and fathers' roles may have an influence on the society. It

is clear that fathers' roles are in transition. Present father-child interaction

Children's perceptions of present father-child in-teraction are shown in Table 4. At present, father-

child interaction could be interpreted on the basis of

proportion of yes (positive) response to children's

perceptions of their fathers' appreciation of them and children's warm-hearted attitudes toward their fa-thers. The result indicated that 42.7 % of children responded positively to the scale of fathers' apprecia-tion of children, while 32.5 % of children responded

positively to the scale of children's warm-hearted attitudes towards their fathers. Paying close attention

to each item, around 60% of children responded

positively to items that their fathers cared and worried about them, and believed them. Also, more

than 80% of children responded positively to the item that they worried about their fathers when they got sick, and around 60% of them responded positively to

the item that their fathers were kind-hearted, while only 12% responded positively to items that they would like to talk with their fathers about their

problems and felt happy when their fathers asked a

favor of them.

Children's perceptions of fathers' roles and father-

child interaction

It is stated that the relationship with parents over

the course of childhood are carried forward to

influence the nature of the parent-adolescent rela-

tionship (Santrock 1990). Therefore, it will be

important to clarify which dimensions of fathers' roles

are the best predictors of father-child interaction in

the present. Multiple regression analysis was used. In

this analysis, fathers' appreciation of their children

and children's warm-hearted attitudes toward their

fathers are dependent variables. Fathers' role dimen-

sions, extracted by factor analysis, are predictors. The

results are shown in Table 5.

First, the compassionate father's role was the most

significant predictor of fathers' appreciation of their

children (ƒÀ =0.64, ƒÏ< 0.001). The leader-breadwin-

ner and the acceptance-teaching roles followed (ƒÀ =

0.21, ƒÏ<0.001, ƒÀ = 0.15, ƒÏ<0.001). Consequently,

these three fathers' roles accounted for 46% of

variance in fathers' appreciation of their children, of

which 41% made up the compassionate role (Table

5-a).

Second, the most significant predictor of the

children's warm-hearted attitude toward their fathers

was the compassionate father's role ( ƒÀ =0.51, ƒÏ

<0.001). The leader-breadwinner, acceptance-teach-

ing and companionate roles followed (ƒÀ = 0.24, ƒÏ

(681) 13


Table 3 . Fathers' role scales

14 (682)


< 0 .00 1; ƒÀ =0.21, ƒÏ< 0.001; ƒÀ =0.09, ƒÏ< 0.05). On the

other hand, the authoritarian-disciplinary role was a

significant negative predictor (ƒÀ = -0.16, ƒÏ< 0.001).

In all, these five roles account for 36% of the

variance in children's warm-hearted attitudes toward

their fathers, of which 26% made up the compassion-

ate fathers' role (Table 5-b).

Therefore, it is likely to say that fathers' increased

compassionate role affects children's perceptions of

father-child interaction. In other words, the more

children perceive fathers' compassionate roles, the

better children perceive father-child interaction.

Thus, children might feel that their fathers un-

derstand and support them, when children perceive

their fathers' compassionate role. Then, they hold

warm-hearted attitudes toward their fathers. There-

fore, it is clear that children's compassionate experi-

ence with their fathers during childhood is carried

forward to influence the nature of better father-adolescent relationships. This data supports the findings that fathers' increased emotional support and

encouragement facilitates closer and richer father-child interaction during adolescence (Lamb 1976). Therefore, children's feelings of closeness and warmth are associated with positive outcomes for

father-child interaction. In addition, it can be said that fathers' acceptance-

teaching and leader-breadwinner roles also facilitate father-child interaction. However, the authoritarian-disciplinary role negatively affects children's warm-

hearted attitudes toward fathers. As Yoshida et al.

(1978) pointed out, traditional Japanese fathers such as authoritarian figures, tend to be disliked by

children in growing national economies. Instead, compassionate fathers tend to be well-liked by children.

Table 4 . Items in father-child interaction scales and the proportion of yes (positive) response

( 683 ) 15


Children's perceptions of father-child interaction

and children's self-esteem

Items of children's self-esteem and proportion of

yes response are shown in Table 6. To clarify the

relationship between the present father-child interac-

tion and children's self-esteem, children were ca-

tegorized into the high and the low group on the basis

of their fathers' appreciation and children's warm-

hearted attitudes scores: those above median were

categorized as high, and those below median were

categorized as low. t-test were used in relation to the

subjects' self-esteem. As shown Table 7, those in the

high group in the children's warm-hearted scale had

higher self-esteem than those who were in the low

group (t= 2.34, ƒÏ< 0.05).

However, the significant difference of means of

Table 5 - a. Multiple regression of fathers' appreciation of

children on different dimensions of fathers' roles

(stepwise)

Table 5 - b. Multiple regression of children's warm-hearted

attitude toward fathers on different dimensions of fathers' roles (stepwise)

Table 6 . Items in self-esteem scale and the proportion of yes (positive) response

16 (684)


self-esteem do not exist between the high and the low

group in terms of their perceptions of their fathers' appreciation toward them.

What do the differences between means of self-esteem in the high and low group in children's warm-hearted attitudes mean? Previous research

shows that the adolescent whose father's interest was low may have a more difficult time preserving self-esteem, because adolescents' perceptions of

parental support, interest and participation in their lives have been found to correlate with adolescent

self-esteem (Clark and Barber 1994). The results of the present study does not support the assumption that fathers' lack of appreciation toward children may

lead to children's low self-esteem. However, the data supports the idea that those who have more warm-hearted attitudes toward their fathers maintain

higher self-esteem. In order to understand the reason, it is important to

consider children's developmental stage. Perhaps the

children in late adolescence have cognitive abilities to understand the situation in which their fathers are not capable of showing their appreciation toward

them. In other words, they may attribute a cause of fathers' low appreciation toward them to their fathers' various causal factors such as working late and long

commuting hours. Therefore, these attributions may not have an influence on children's self-esteem, and

they are able to maintain relatively high self-esteem. More than these factors, peer and age groups are likely to have more impact on the late adolescent's self-esteem.

CONCLUSION

1) In general, "father's role" is said in a single

phrase, but factor analysis of 34 items implies that fathers' roles actually are separated into six different

dimensions; acceptance-teaching, leader-breadwinner, compassionate, companionate, authoritarian-disciplinary and the sanction for reward and punishment

dimensions. 2) Among fathers' roles perceived by children in

this study, the compassionate role is the best

predictor of father-child interaction perceived by children. Fathers' acceptance-teaching and leader-breadwinner roles also facilitate father-child interac-

tion. However, the fathers' authoritarian-disciplinary role negatively affects children's warm-hearted atti-tudes toward their fathers. Therefore, it is clear that

the more children perceive their fathers' compassion-ate, acceptance-teaching and leader-breadwinner roles, the richer the relationship between father and

child interaction in the present. 3) Contrary to the conclusion reached by Ro-

senberg (1965), this study shows that there is no relation between fathers' appreciation of their chil-

dren and children's self-esteem. However, the results indicates that children who have more warm-hearted attitudes toward their fathers maintain higher self-esteem. Therefore, it is important to consider

children's developmental stage in terms of their cognitive development.

To date, in the field of sociology, fathers' roles have

primarily been studied from the structural-functional perspective. In other words, the normative aspects of fathers' roles that are expected of fathers from

society, which are called "role expectation," have often times been the focus of attention. In this study,

the symbolic interactionism perspective has been applied. As a result, it can be recognized that in late adolescence, the subjects psychologically or sym-

bolically interpret fathers' roles in terms of the image of the positive fathers' roles, which has been internalized and accumulated into their personalities. These children's perceptions of fathers' roles influ-

ence the relationship between fathers and children in late adolescence, which have an impact on formation

of children's self-esteem. However, focusing attention on the fact Japanese

fathers are less involved with their children, further

investigation is needed on fathers' roles as perceived by fathers themselves, in order to find out whether fathers are actually performing fathers' roles as

children perceive them. Nonetheless, it is speculated

Table 7 . Significance of difference of means for chidren's

self-esteem by children's warm-hearted attitude

toward fathers based on t-test

(685) 17

J. Home Econ. Jpn. Vol. 48 No. 8 (1997)

that father figures and roles at least psychologically

exist in children, in spite of the frequent indication by

mass media that fathers are physically absent at

home. Thus, the findings in this paper may be

counter-evidence against the frequent indication by

mass media. While the frequent indication by mass

media focuses on the physical paternal absence,

including the time fathers spend with their children,

more consideration should be carefully given to the

relationship between physical and psychological fa-

thers' roles. In this context, the conceptual definition

of the paternal absence should be more clearly

defined from the psychological and physical perspec-

tive.

Since mothers perform important roles in the

Japanese home, further investigation will be needed

on children's internalized mothers' roles in relation to

children's self-esteem. Also, considering mothers'

mediating roles in transmitting fathers' values to

children at home, mothers' evaluation of fathers' roles

and marital satisfaction might have an effect on

children's perceptions of fathers' roles and their

relationships with their fathers. Therefore, these

issues need further investigation.

REFERENCES

Benson, L. (1968) Fatherhood: A Sociological Perspective (in

Japanese), Random House, Tokyo, 54-101

Clark, J., and Barber, L. (1994) Adolescent in Postdivorce

and Always-Married Families: Self-Esteem and Percep-

tions of Fathers' Interest, J. Marriage Family, 56

(August), 608-614

Freud, S. (1937) Die endliche and die unendliche Analyse (in

Japanese), Nihon Kyoubunsha, Tokyo, 368-388

Furuichi, Y. (1978) Effects of Father Absence on

Personality Development on Children (in Japanese),

Shinrigaku Hyoron, 21, 73-89

Hoshino, I. (1970) Kanzyou to Shinri to Kyouiku,

Jidoushinri, 24, 168

Ishikawa, M. (1992) Fuseifuzai Genshouno Genjittai to

Fuseikinou ni Kansuru Jisshoukenkyu, Kagaku Kenkyuhi

Hojokin Kenkyuseika Houkokusho, 1-20

Kashiwagi, K. (1993) Chichioyano Hattatsu Shinrigaku,

Kawashimashoten, Tokyo, 36-37

Kuntz, M. (1994) Paternal Involvement and Perception

toward Fathers' Roles: A Comparison between Japan and

the United States, J. Family Issues, 15 (1), 30-48

Lamb, E. (1976) The Role of the Father in Child Development

(in Japanese), Kaseikyouikusha, Tokyo, 40-42 Lynn, B. (1978) The Father—His Role in Child Development

(in Japanese), Kitaoji Shobou, Tokyo, 338-342

Macionis, J. (1987) Sociology, Prentice Hall, New Jersey,

375

Morishita, M. (1977) Oya ni Taisuru Kodomo no Taido

Sukehru to Sono Bunseki, Wakayama Daigaku Kyou-

ikugakubu Kiyou, 77-86

Nakane, T. (1974) Chichioya no Kiso to Yakuwari, in Oyaji

Chichi Naki Jidai no Kazokuzou (ed. by NHK 70 Nendai

Warera no Sekai project), Daiyamondosha, Tokyo, 23-42

Parsons, T. (1964) Social Structure and Personality, The Free

Press of Glencoe, New York, 49-75

Rosenberg, M. (1965) Society and the Adolescent Self-Image,

Princeton University Press, New Jersey, 128-146

Rosenberg, M. (1981) Social Psychological Perspective, Basic

Book, Inc., New York, 593-624

Santrock, W. (1990) Adolescence, Wm. C. Brown Publishers,

New York, 34-35

Sasaki, K. (1982) Chichioya towa Nanika (Koudansha

Shinsho), Koudansha, Tokyo, 66

Soumucho Seishounen Taisakubu (1987) Nihon no Chi-

chioya to Kodomo Saibunseki Houkoku Shiryouhen Amerika

Nishidoitsu tono Hikaku, Ohkurasho Insatsukyoku, Tokyo,

80-81

Yoshida, N., Kadowaki, A., and Kojima, K. (1978)

Gendaiseinen no Ishiki to Koudou, NHK Shuppan, Tokyo,

66-69

父役割の諸側面と子どもの自尊心に関する父子相互作用の研究

青年後期の子どもの認知データの分析を通じて

冬木春子, 本村汎*

(大阪市立大学大学院,*大阪市立大学生活科学部)

平成 8 年 8 月 26 日受理

この研究の目的は,子どもが認知した異なった次元の父役割を,因子分析の手法で明らかに

すること,さらに,異なる次元の父役割と子どもの認知した父子相互作用との関係,また, 父

子相互作用と子どもの自尊心との関係を明らかにすることであった.父役割は,父役割理論の

文献研究およびインタビューから得られた資料を通じて,父役割尺度を作成し測定された. 父

18 ( 686 )


子相互作用は, 父親の子どもに対する理解度,子どもの父親に対する好意度で指標化された.

対象者は575名の大学生であった.結果では,子どもが認知した父役割は六つの異なる次元に

分かれることが,因子分析の結果明らかにされた.さらに,これらの父役割のうち,表出的,

扶養的,教育的役割は,父子相互作用と関連がみられた.次に,父子相互作用の一側面である,

子どもの父親に対する好意度は,子どもの自尊心に影響を与えていることが明らかにされた.

このことから,伝統的な父役割以上に新しい父役割である表出的父役割が子どもに好意をもっ

て認知されているといえよう.また,マスメディアが,日本の家族には「父親がいない」と述

べているが,子どもの心には父親像や父役割が心理的に存在しているのではないだろうかと考

察できる.

キーワード : 父役割, 父子関係, 自尊心, 因子分析.

( 687 ) 19

Documents

A Study on the Different Dimensions of Fathers' Roles and