- Masculine traits are linked to better parenting for some dads
- The key for men is to believe that they should and can nurture kids
- Positive masculine traits include being competitive, daring, adventurous, dominant, aggressive, courageous
But the men in this study - highly educated and from dual-earner couples - combined those stereotypically masculine traits with the belief that they should be nurturing, highly involved fathers.
It suggests that some men are looking for new ways to be fathers, Schoppe-Sullivan said.
"These men are combining traditional aspects of masculinity with new nurturing ideals to create new fathering identities. They may be in the midst of transforming fatherhood."
The study was published this week in the journal Psychology of Men and Masculinities.
The seven stereotypical masculine characteristics linked to positive parenting in this study - competitive, daring, adventurous, dominant, aggressive, courageous and stands up to pressure - are generally seen as positive traits, Schoppe-Sullivan noted.
The men in the study were participating in the New Parents Project, a long-term study led by Schoppe-Sullivan that is investigating how dual-earner couples adjust to becoming parents for the first time.
Hostile sexism was rated by asking male participants how much they agreed with 11 statements like "Feminists are making unreasonable demands of men." Participants were also asked whether men or women should provide the majority of income for the family.
Their nurturing father role beliefs were measured by asking men to rate how much they agreed with nine statements like "Men should share with child care such as bathing, feeding and dressing the child."
Nine months after the child was born, the researchers watched the fathers interact with their infants by themselves and with the mother. The researchers rated the fathers on their positive parenting behavior and on how well they co-parented together with mothers.
Results
Results showed, as the researchers had predicted, that men who believed they should have a nurturing father role had higher-quality interactions with their child and were better at co-parenting with their partner.
But the researchers were surprised to find that the more men said they fit the stereotypical definition of "real men," the more they were also rated as showing good parenting behavior.
"The fathers who see themselves as competitive and adventurous and the other masculine traits tended to be really engaged with their kids. They were not checked out," Schoppe-Sullivan said.
It may be that men who used these traditionally masculine characteristics to succeed in their careers are trying to find ways to apply them to their jobs as parents.
"These dads may be saying that being a father is an important job, too, and I'm going to use the same traits that help me succeed at work to make me a successful father," she said.
Schoppe-Sullivan emphasized that the fathers in this sample were highly educated and had partners who also worked. The findings here may not apply to all fathers.
But the results are encouraging, she said.
"If fathers can preserve the best of these stereotypically masculine characteristics, without the negatives like hostile sexism, that would be good for families."
Source-Eurekalert