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ERIC Number: ED284128
Record Type: RIE
Publication Date: 1987-May
Pages: 45
Abstractor: N/A
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: N/A
EISSN: N/A
Available Date: N/A
The Development of Sex-Role Identity in Children from Father-Absent Families.
Beachy, Robert James
Research investigating the development of sex-role identity in children from father-absent families was reviewed using Biller and Borstelmann's (1967) three-fold conceptualization of sex-role identity as sex-role orientation, sex-role preference, and sex-role adoption as an organizational framework. The review revealed that sex-role orientation has been measured predominantly by projective tests, with results consistently showing a negative correlation between father absence and masculine sex-role orientation in boys. There were not enough studies using projective measures of sex-role orientation to draw definite conclusions. Studies using self-report measures of sex-role preference yielded mixed results, suggesting that father absence does not affect sex-role preference as powerfully as it appears to affect sex-role orientation. Findings of studies of sex-role adoption, typically measured by behavior ratings, support the view that father absence is not related to sex-role adoption. This aspect of sex-role identity seems to be least closely affected by father absence. Variables that have been shown to mitigate the effect of father absence on children have been identified, including age of child at time of father absence, cause of father absence, presence of siblings or father substitutes, and maternal behavior. (Author/NB)
Publication Type: Information Analyses; Reports - Research
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A
Author Affiliations: N/A
Note: Research paper for Doctor of Psychology degree, Biola University, California.