TY - JOUR
T1 - The effects of fathers on daughters' expectations for men
AU - DelPriore, Danielle J.
AU - Shakiba, Nila
AU - Schlomer, Gabriel L.
AU - Hill, Sarah E.
AU - Ellis, Bruce J.
N1 - Funding Information:
Preliminary versions of the current analyses were presented at meetings of the Association for Psychological Science (APS), the Society for Research on Adolescence (SRA), and the Rocky Mountain Psychological Association (RMPA). This research was supported by grants from the National Science Foundation (BCS-1322573) and the Frances McClelland Institute for Children, Youth, and Families. We thank Susan Brener, Peggy Brownlee, Samantha Dail, Carissa Herring, Tamar Kaplan, Lauren Koltes, Hannah McCurdy, Desiree Montgomery, Lauren Pearce-Walker, Hannah Phillips, Annabeth Sea-mans, Monique Timmons, Ariana Varelas, and Sierra Yslas for their research assistance.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019 American Psychological Association.
PY - 2019/7
Y1 - 2019/7
N2 - Guided by paternal investment theory (PIT), the current research examines the effects of fathers on daughters' expectations for men in adulthood, and the role of these expectations in mediating women's short-term (casual or uncommitted) sexual behavior. Using a genetically informed differential sibling-exposure design (N = 223 sister pairs from divorced/separated families), we found that developmental exposure to low-quality paternal behavior (but not paternal absence per se) predicted adult women's expectations for men as partners. For older sisters, who spent much of their childhoods living with their fathers, lower-quality paternal behavior predicted lower expectations for male investment in their relationships as adults. Moreover, lower expectations for men as partners predicted higher numbers of sexual partners (past and anticipated) among these women. By contrast, for younger sisters, who spent relatively little time coresiding with their fathers, no such effects of quality of paternal behavior were observed. The current work provides evidence that exposure to low-quality paternal behavior during development may help calibrate daughters' expectations for the behavior of male relationship partners, and these expectations may shape their sexual behavior in adulthood.
AB - Guided by paternal investment theory (PIT), the current research examines the effects of fathers on daughters' expectations for men in adulthood, and the role of these expectations in mediating women's short-term (casual or uncommitted) sexual behavior. Using a genetically informed differential sibling-exposure design (N = 223 sister pairs from divorced/separated families), we found that developmental exposure to low-quality paternal behavior (but not paternal absence per se) predicted adult women's expectations for men as partners. For older sisters, who spent much of their childhoods living with their fathers, lower-quality paternal behavior predicted lower expectations for male investment in their relationships as adults. Moreover, lower expectations for men as partners predicted higher numbers of sexual partners (past and anticipated) among these women. By contrast, for younger sisters, who spent relatively little time coresiding with their fathers, no such effects of quality of paternal behavior were observed. The current work provides evidence that exposure to low-quality paternal behavior during development may help calibrate daughters' expectations for the behavior of male relationship partners, and these expectations may shape their sexual behavior in adulthood.
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U2 - 10.1037/dev0000741
DO - 10.1037/dev0000741
M3 - Article
C2 - 30998035
AN - SCOPUS:85064543569
SN - 0012-1649
VL - 55
SP - 1523
EP - 1536
JO - Developmental psychology
JF - Developmental psychology
IS - 7
ER -