BC Council for Families

Research has proven conclusively that involved fathers make a positive difference in the healthy development of their children. Now, a recent study from the University of Texas at Austin asks, how do involved fathers affect their partner's feelings of competence as parents? How are mothers impacted when fathers are highly involved in the day-to-day care of children?

In The SuperMom Trap: Do Involved Dads Erode Moms' Self-Competence, published in the Journal of Personal Relationships, lead researcher Takayuki Sasaki looked at 78 American couples with 8-month old infants, and examined each partner's self-liking, feelings of self-competence, and amount of time spent with their child. The findings revealed that working mothers' views of their own competence as parents were negatively impacted when they saw their spouse as highly competent parents and the fathers spent more time alone with the child.

The researchers conclude that although "recent social changes may have convinced many Americans that women should enter the workplace and their husbands should share the caregiving ... the ideal that parenting is primarily the wife's responsibility has survived. As a result, women may be trapped by the conviction that a truly competent woman can and should be a "supermom" who has a high-powered career yet is nevertheless always there for her children."

Although mothers may be threatened when fathers are more involved, there are many reasons to encourage women to make room for men in parenting. While historically parenting has been viewed as the responsibility and role of women, making it relatively unsurprising that there might be some ambivalence about father’s involvement, research demonstrates that all family members benefit when fathers become involved in parenting.

For ideas and information about encouraging fathers to become involved parents, find out more about the Father Involvement Network of BC.