S u m m a r y

Vanhatalo O et al (2000)

The relationships of fathers' goals and concerns with marital satisfaction

Psykologia 35(3):229-241. Vammala ISSN 0355-1067

 

The present study investigated prospective relationships between the goals and concerns of fathers, on the one hand, and their marital satisfaction, on the other hand, in their transition to parenthood. Two hundred and seventy-seven fathers were asked to fill in questionnaires concerning their personal goals, concerns and marital satisfaction during the first half of their wife's pregnancy, just before delivery and three months after the birth of the child. The results revealed that the marital satisfaction of the father in the wife's early pregnancy predicted later orientation to material goals: the more fathers reported dissatisfaction in their marriage, the more orientated they were to material goals later on. Similarly, fathers who reported material concerns before the child was born were more unsatisfied in their marital lifes after the child was born. 

 

 

Outi Vanhatalo, M.A. (psych), Department of Psychology, University of Jyväskylä, PO Box 35, FIN-40351 Jyväskylä, Finland.