Father Absence and Young Adult Romantic Relationship Ideals Open Access
Ho, Sarena (Spring 2020)
Abstract
The population of children without a consistent father-figure has grown considerably over the past 50 years. Previous research has outlined the effect that father absence can have on child development, highlighting the importance of having a father-figure and the negative ramifications that father absence can have. Associated effects include child stability and behavioral problems as well as social and emotional withdrawal. One area that has yet to be explored is the effect that father absence has on their children’s long-term romantic relationship development. This issue is of importance because understanding the effect that fathers have on their children’s attitudes towards romantic relationships can help to mitigate adverse effects on relationship development in situations when the father can still be involved to some extent in their child’s life, such as in the case of divorce or work commitments. This study aimed to identify attitudes towards relationships and uncover differences in romantic ideals between those raised with and without a consistent father figure through semi-structured interviews with young adults. The results suggest that father absence does play a role in how individuals approach romantic relationships. As hypothesized, a large impact was seen within the female father-absent sample, where respondents reported struggling to establish and maintain romantic relationships due to a lack of experience with them and general discomfort being emotionally intimate in their interpersonal relationships. Surprisingly, the male absent-father sample reported similar experiences as the male present-father sample, indicating that perhaps a father’s large impact on their son is not their approach to relationships or their beliefs but rather on their personality development. Ultimately, father absence is correlated with attitudes towards romantic relationship, particularly for father-absent females, as such connections are often avoided. Even when they exist, they are strained and unstable as compared to those of the father-present sample.
Table of Contents
Introduction …………………………….. 1
A Review of the Literature …………... 4
Methods ……………………………….....13
Results ………………………………...... 17
Discussion …………………………….... 36
Conclusion ……………………………... 50
Appendix …………………………….…. 52
References ……………………………... 54
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