Longitudinal analyses of men’s communal engagement during the transition to fatherhood: The roles of gender-related beliefs and social support

• Applicant: Professorin Dr. Melanie Caroline Steffens
• Subject Area: Social Psychology, Industrial and Organisational Psychology
• Term: since 2025
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 554532731

Men are underrepresented in communal domains traditionally associated with women and therefore counter-stereotypic for men. Various barriers have been identified that hinder men’s higher participation. The present research proposal is part of a larger program of research in which we explored predictors of men’s communal engagement using the example of how men’s interest in parental leave – as a form of communal engagement – varies across different stages of the transition to fatherhood. Specifically, we focused on how gendered beliefs regarding masculinity and fatherhood, the possible selves men can imagine for their future, and the social support men receive from their normative environment relate to their intentions to take parental leave specifically and to their engagement in care more broadly. The funding we apply for here is needed for finalizing data analyses (funding is needed for one year). The following parts of the project have been carried out as a dissertation. We started an extended longitudinal study investigating the parental leave-taking intentions of expectant fathers in Belgium and Germany. Cross-sectional analyses of Wave 1 (before birth) have been carried out, where we found first evidence for a link between male prototypes and men’s behavioral preferences to take parental leave after birth. Yet, the support that expectant fathers received from their partners for taking parental leave emerged as the strongest predictor of men’s leave-taking desire, intention, and expected duration. In first longitudinal analyses comparing Wave 1 and 2 data (about 4 months after birth), we studied discrepancies between men’s prenatal plans to fulfill caregiver and breadwinner roles and their actual postnatal engagement in each domain. Results suggested that fathers, on average, expected and desired to share childcare and breadwinning rather equally with their partners but had difficulties translating their intentions into behavior. Wave 3 data collection is currently ongoing and could be used for further examining parental engagement during the first year after birth. Further, a partner questionnaire was included in the study, and data could be matched for examining additional research questions and dis-ambiguating interpretations (e.g., father’s perceptions of vs. partner’s actually indicated support). The aims of the present research proposal are to do longitudinal data analyses including data of all three waves, focusing on the following research questions: (1) How do the main constructs we measured change across the three time points? (2) What are reciprocal relations and mediations between constructs across waves? (3) What are the most powerful predictors of men’s actual leave-taking? Taken together, these analyses will allow important conclusions regarding barriers and facilitators for men’s engagement in communal roles.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants
• International Connection: Belgium
• Cooperation Partner: Professorin Dr. Colette Van Laar