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Father‐Absence and the Development of Sex Role
Author(s) -
Houston Stewart
Publication year - 1973
Publication title -
australian journal of social issues
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.417
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1839-4655
pISSN - 0157-6321
DOI - 10.1002/j.1839-4655.1973.tb00515.x
Subject(s) - disadvantage , sibling , masculinity , developmental psychology , formative assessment , psychology , same sex , demography , sociology , gender studies , political science , law , pedagogy
The lack of data‐based research on the effects of father absence provided the major focus of the study. Comparisons are made between sex‐role development in father‐absent boys, male singletons and males in the four sibling‐status positions in two‐child families. On three measures of sex‐role development, differences between the groups are shown. The father‐absent groups are shown to rank poorly in comparison with their peers. Although no firm explanations are adduced for this developmental disadvantage, the possibilities of compensatory masculinity and critical periods in sex‐role establishment are raised. The need for provision of adequate male sex role models for boys during the psychosexually formative years and some implications for future research are discussed.