%0 Journal Article
%T ¡°Not My Father¡¯s Son¡±: Qualitative Investigation of U.S. Men¡¯s Perceptions of Their Fathers¡¯ Expectations and Influence
%A Kathleen M. Alto
%A Ronald F. Levant
%A Stefan Jadaszewski
%A Zachary T. Gerdes
%J The Journal of Men¡¯s Studies
%@ 1933-0251
%D 2018
%R 10.1177/1060826517734380
%X The present study examined men¡¯s perceptions of their father¡¯s general expectations of them when they were growing up and what the effects have been on their lives. Previous research suggests fathers influence sons¡¯ development, but few studies have examined sons¡¯ perceptions qualitatively. Participants were 252 demographically diverse community-dwelling and college men (ages 18-78; 36.5% men of color). Descriptive coding and content analysis were used to analyze written open-ended responses from an online questionnaire. Results suggest that fathers¡¯ expectations for their sons are quite influential. Common topics of expectations reported by participants included Academics, Work Ethic, Athletics, Family, Career, Independence and Self-Reliance, Authenticity, and Happiness. Sons who perceived their fathers as supporting their authentic selves without having unattainable expectations reported positive impacts. Rigid and ill-fitting expectations may have negative effects. These findings suggest fathers are an important influence on their sons with positive or negative impacts on their well-being, depending on how well the expectations fit their sons
%K fathers¡¯ expectations
%K masculine norms
%K masculinity ideology
%K men¡¯s well-being
%U https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/full/10.1177/1060826517734380