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A common perception is that fathers play an important, if not distinct, role in influencing their young daughters’ future, heterosexual relationships, though the means by which paternal influence and relational outcomes are linked is unclear. The current study explores associations between positive paternal influences (paternal support, a father’s treatment of the daughter’s mother) and attachment styles and dispositions toward marriage (beliefs, attitudes, intentions) of young adult women, with emphasis on unique associations for the father-daughter dyad compared to other parent-child pairings. A multivariate multiple regression and follow-up regression models yielded some but limited support for unique associations between fathers and daughters. Especially apparent, however, was the tendency for a daughter to be attracted to relationship partners who reminded her of her father when she reported higher levels of positive paternal influences from her childhood. A growing body of research has demonstrated that having a present, involved, and caring father corresponds with a variety of healthy outcomes for children (see reviews by Cabrera, Tamis-LeMonda, Bradley, Hofferth, Lamb, 2000; Pleck & Masciadrelli, 2004). Some outcomes may vary depending on the gender of a child in that fathers tend to interact with or differentially influence male and female children in distinct ways (Noller & Fitzpatrick, 1993; Lovas, 2005; Nielsen, 2007; Pleck & Masciadrelli, 2004; Updegraff, McHale, Crouter, & Kupanoff, 2001). This research typically reveals that fathers have less direct, intense, and physical involvement with girls than boys. Furthermore, research specific to daughters’ outcomes has been dominated by a focus on sexually abusive and otherwise negative relationships (Morgan, Wilcoxon, & Satcher, 2003; Nielsen, 2005), thus limiting understanding of healthy father-daughter interaction. A major theoretical emphasis within the father-daughter literature has been the role a father plays for his daughter’s future heterosexual, romantic relationships (e.g., Goulter & Minninger, 1993; Kavaler, 1988; Williamson, 2004). Within such literature, it is commonly suspected that daughters generalize their experiences with their fathers to boys and men as potential romantic partners and husbands. This assertion is generally more speculative than empirical, and the exact means by which this generalization process occurs are not clear. If indeed fathers play a critical role in the future marital success of their daughters, understanding this role—in light of contemporary societal concerns about high divorce rates and subsequent family instability—may enhance efforts toward encouraging effective premarital preparation. Such an understanding may also contribute to efforts aimed at developing and improving parenting interventions that seek to deter the intergenerational transmission of family dysfunction. The purpose of the current study was to further the investigation of how childhood paternal influences relate to future marital success of daughters. Specifically, it focused on daughters’ attachment styles and on several key beliefs/attitudes/intentions (disposition for short) relevant to an eventual marital relationship of young, single adult daughters. Direct correspondence to Dr. Scott Hall at Ball State University, AT 150, Muncie, IN 47306, Tele: 765-285-5943, E-mail: sshall@bsu.edu, Fax: 765-285-2314 Paternal Influences 2 Review of Literature Paternal involvement literature has focused on the variety of ways that fathers interact with their daughters that yield positive child outcomes. Paternal support as been associated with lower levels/degrees of negative outcomes, such as childhood depression (Dubowitz et al., 2001), distress (Lempers & Clark-Lempers, 1990), delinquency (Kosterman, Haggerty, Spoth, & Redmond, 2004), and early onset of sexual behavior (Regnerus & Luchies, 2006) during adolescence, and emotional hostility during young adulthood (Nicholas & Bieber, 1996). However, relatively little research has specifically focused on long-term effects of the fatherdaughter relationship on daughters’ future outcomes (Morgan et al., 2003; Perkins, 2001). Romantic relationship socialization. There are reasons to suspect that fathers can make an important contribution to the eventual romantic relationships of their daughters, and that it is different from the contribution of mothers, and different from fathers’ contributions to their sons. As noted, there is a tendency for mothers and fathers to interact in some distinct ways with their daughters. It is possible that because of this tendency fathers are particularly salient for specific domains of their daughters’ development (Laible, Carlo, & Raffaelli, 2004). Gender may also influence the roles and type of interaction in the home that can shape unique father-daughter relationship characteristics (Russell & Saebel, 1997). For example, in predicting a child’s selfesteem, physical affection from fathers mattered much more for daughters’ outcomes than for sons’ (Barber & Thomas, 1986; Duncan, Hill, & Jeung, 1996). Similarly, spending time with their fathers was strongly related to school-aged girls’ feelings of closeness with their fathers, but that was much less the case for boys (Crouter & Crowley, 1990). Prosocial parenting from fathers predicted less childhood delinquency by daughters—but comparable maternal influences were not associated with this outcome (Kosterman et al., 2004). Overall, these studies illustrate that fathers can serve some distinct functions in the lives of daughters, demonstrating the plausibility that fathers likewise contribute uniquely to their daughters’ eventual marital functioning. According to Reciprocal Role Theory (Johnson, 1975), daughters learn to behave in ways that complement a father’s masculine behavior, thus shaping their future behavior with other males. Paired with a Psychodynamic perspective, this socialization process would be especially salient for a daughter’s future relationships because her father is her “first love,” and she may even fantasize romantically about him (Freud, 1988; Williamson, 2004). Though relatively sparse, some research exists that is consistent with this reasoning. For example, adults have shown a tendency to select romantic partners with similar eye and hair colors as their opposite-sex parent (Little, Penton-Voak, Burt, & Perrett, 2003). Also, those born to older parents (age 30 or older) were more likely than those born to younger parents to find older faces of the opposite sex attractive, suggesting that childhood attraction to one’s opposite-sex parent (and thus the age of the face influencing what is perceived as attractive) may be generalized to potential relationship partners (Perrett et al., 2002). Additionally, women with more positive childhood relationships with their parents were more likely to identify stimulus faces as attractive that shared similar features with their own father’s features (Wiszewska, Pawlowski, & Boothroyd, 2007). Fathers may make a lasting impression on their daughters’ romantic preferences, though relatively little is known about what factors in the father-daughter relationship account for this connection. However, it is likely that more supportive and less abusive fathering nurture positive Paternal Influences 3 assumptions and expectations about relations with males, though this assertion has been made based more on anecdotes and clinical observations than empirical research (Perrett et al., 2002). In addition to the nature of relationship a daughter experiences with her father, what she observes about her father’s marriage-related behavior also may be influential on her future relationships. Consistent with Social Learning Theory (Bandura, 1977), a father’s relationship with the daughter’s mother may model heterosexual interaction that the daughter accepts as normal or desirable (or undesirable) and then generalizes to future romantic relationships. Arguably, daughters would pay special attention to a father’s treatment of her mother to learn how good men treat a wife (Freud, 1988). A close look at the reviewed body of research reveals that parental marital characteristics have typically been measured as a dyadic unit (e.g., overall marital quality or conflict), without isolating a father’s treatment of the mother. Thus, potential specific associations between a father’s modeling of how to treat a wife and the daughter’s romantic relationship-related outcomes have typically been untested. From socialization to future relationships. Though fathers are arguably in a unique position to influence daughters’ heterosexual relationships, understanding how such influence transfers to the future relationships requires continued exploration (Mounts, 2008). One possible means for this transfer is through beliefs and assumptions daughters have about relationships (especially marriage). Studies show that unrealistic relationship beliefs relate to relational distress and dissatisfaction (Addis & Bernard, 2002; McNulty & Karney, 2004; Stackert & Bursik, 2003), as well as communication and conflict resolution behaviors within relationships (Bradbury & Fincham, 1993; Vangelisti & Alexander, 2002). Premarital literature has identified common expectations about getting married that could impact future marital adjustment. These include the belief that spouses are destined or meant for each other (Knee, 1998) and that couples should prove their relationship will work before marriage (Larson, 1992). These types of beliefs can be influenced by the nature of relationships in one’s family of origin (Hall, 2006; Weigel, 2007). Attitudes toward the importance of marriage are also influenced by what children experience and observe in the home (Musick & Bumpass, 1999; Riggio & Weisner, 2008). For reasons already discussed, fathers particularly would be influential on daughters’ overall disposition (beliefs,

Paternal Influences on Daughters’ Heterosexual Relationship Socialization: Attachment Style and Disposition toward Marriage