Journal article
Paternal Affection, Masculinity, and Fathers’ Parenting Self-Efficacy: Findings From an Australian Cohort Study
Sex Roles, Vol.92(5), pp.1-11
2026
Abstract
Parenting self-efficacy refers to the confidence that parents have in their ability to successfully promote children’s development and to overcome parenting challenges. Yet how parenting self-efficacy unfolds in men remains largely unknown. Developmental ecological models of fathering suggest that fathers’ parenting beliefs, such as parenting self-efficacy, develop through a complex interaction of factors. In the present study, we examine two important individual factors that may influence parenting self-efficacy: men’s recollection of affection received from their own father and men’s cultural values regarding traditional masculinity. Data were obtained from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health (Ten to Men), Wave 1 and Wave 2 of the adult age group (
N
= 7,901). After adjustment for covariates and prior depression, we found that higher levels of recalled paternal affection were significantly associated with greater parenting self-efficacy. Masculine norms relating to ‘winning’ and ‘risk taking’ were positively associated with greater parenting efficacy, while ‘emotional control,’ ‘violence,’ ‘playboy,’ and ‘power over women’ were associated with lower parenting self-efficacy. Our findings suggest that fathers’ affection has long-term consequences for their children’s future parenting self-efficacy. To enhance their parenting self-efficacy, some men may benefit from support that challenges the idealisation of masculine dominance while reinforcing evolving expectations of fathers.
Details
- Title
- Paternal Affection, Masculinity, and Fathers’ Parenting Self-Efficacy: Findings From an Australian Cohort Study
- Authors
- Jennifer M. StGeorge (Corresponding Author) - University of Newcastle AustraliaLiam G. Graeme - Deakin UniversityElisabeth Duursma - Western Sydney UniversityLiana Leach - Australian National UniversityBarnaby Dixson - University of the Sunshine CoastJacqui A. Macdonald - Deakin University
- Publication details
- Sex Roles, Vol.92(5), pp.1-11
- Publisher
- Springer New York LLC
- Date published
- 2026
- DOI
- 10.1007/s11199-026-01689-4
- ISSN
- 1573-2762
- Copyright note
- This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article’s Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article’s Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.
- Data Availability
- Data for this paper were drawn from the Australian Longitudinal Study on Male Health (Ten to Men). Ten to Men research data is the intellectual property of the Commonwealth of Australia. Research data are available from the Australian Government /Australian Institute of Family Studies. The analysis code was deposited in the OSF repository, https://osf.io/vhk79/?view_only=985426647e2c416c889e6999d806b36d.
- Organisation Unit
- Australian Centre for Pacific Islands Research; School of Health - Psychology
- Language
- English
- Record Identifier
- 991254368002621
- Output Type
- Journal article
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