Fathers with Mothers and Infants at the Mall: Gender Differences in Parenting Behavior

Document Type

Article

Journal/Book Title/Conference

Early Child Development and Care

Volume

79

Issue

1

Publisher

Taylor and Francis

Publication Date

1992

First Page

65

Last Page

72

Abstract

Previous research on parent‐infant interaction suggests gender differentiation in parental roles: Mothers behaving as caregivers and fathers as playmates. To test whether these roles are expressed by parents’ interest in purchasing either toys or clothing, 109 young infants (55 girls 54 boys) were unobtrusively observed at a shopping mall with their parents. As predicted, infants in toy stores, especially boys, were significantly more likely to be with fathers than those in clothing stores. These results were consistent when various price‐level stores were compared. This study expands our knowledge of parental roles and moves beyond frequency and duration measures of parent‐infant interaction toward a broader perspective by considering parents’ values as they are expressed economically, outside the home.

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