Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Contributions Of Television Use To Beliefs About Fathers And Gendered Family Roles Among First-Time Expectant Parents, Patty X. Kuo, L. Monique Ward

Department of Child, Youth, and Family Studies: Faculty Publications

TV content has been documented to portray a limited range of gender roles, and to frequently depict fathers as incompetent parents. Accordingly, this study explored whether first-time expectant parents’ beliefs about gendered family roles and the importance of fathers to child development were related to their TV use. Participants were 201 individuals (122 women, 79 men) from across the United States expecting their first biological child in a cohabiting heterosexual relationship. Participants completed an online survey assessing weekly TV exposure, exposure to TV programs featuring fathers, perceived realism of TV, use of TV to learn about the world, and beliefs …