Gay men choosing fatherhood.
Item
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Title
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Gay men choosing fatherhood.
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Identifier
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AAI9325143
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identifier
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9325143
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Creator
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Sbordone, Albert Joseph.
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Contributor
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Adviser: Vera S. Paster
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Date
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1993
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Language
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English
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Publisher
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City University of New York.
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Subject
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Psychology, Clinical | Psychology, Social
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Abstract
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Seventy-eight gay men who are parents via adoption or arrangements with surrogate mothers were compared with 83 gay non-fathers on measures of internalized homophobia, self-esteem and recollections of their families of origin during childhood. Questionnaires included: the Nungesser Homosexual Attitudes Inventory, the Ego-Dystonic Homosexuality Scale, the Rosenberg Self-Esteem Scale, the Marlowe-Crowne Social Desirability Scale, the Family-of-Origin Scale, the Parent-Child Relations Questionnaire II, and a demographic section. Tests of statistical significance included: the t-test, Mann-Whitney U-test, chi-square, Pearson's r, and analysis of variance. This research begins the documentation of a recent phenomenon in the gay community, gay men who are choosing to become fathers within the context of a gay identity.;Results indicate that fathers and non-fathers do not differ significantly in their recollections of maternal and paternal parent-child relationships on measures of love, rejection, attention, or casual versus demanding attitudes toward rules. Nor do the two groups differ significantly on their perceptions of intimacy and autonomy in the family of origin. However, fathers do display significantly higher levels of self-esteem and significantly lower levels of internalized homophobia than non-fathers. Further comparisons include non-fathers who would like to raise a child and those who would not, and correlations between the arrival of a child and scores on measures of self-esteem and internalized homophobia. The author speculates that the fathers' higher self-esteem and lower internalized homophobia are a result of fatherhood rather than a precursor to it.
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Type
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dissertation
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Source
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PQT Legacy CUNY.xlsx
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degree
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Ph.D.
