Effects of father absence on women's perception of "ideal" mate and father
Date
1976Author
Vargon, Melanie M.
Lynn, David B. (David Brandon), 1925-
Barton, Keith
Metadata
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Vargon, M. M., Lynn, D. B., Barton, K. (1976). Effects of Father Absence on Women's Perception of "Ideal" Mate and Father. Multivariate Experimental Clinical Research, 2(1), 33-42.
Abstract
The father-absent group compromised 28 college women whose biological father had not lived at home after their 11th birthday. Controls were father-present college women. Both groups completed the Sixteen Personality Factor Questionnaire twice: as ideal mate would, and as father would. Father-absent women differed significantly from controls in perceiving father as more guilt prone (Factor O) (p < .01), more tense (Factor Q4) (p < .05), and having less ego strength (Factor C) (p < .05). Compared with the control group, father-absent women viewed their ideal mate as lower in superego strength (Factor G) (p < .05) but higher in radicalism (Factor Q1) (p < .05). In sum, father-absent women seem to portray father and ideal mate as opposing personalities: the father as constricted (guilt prone, tense) and weak (lower ego strength), and the ideal mate as free (lower superego) and radical.