Predictors of expectant fathers' parental leave-taking intentions before birth: masculinity, fatherhood beliefs, and social support

Carolin Scheifele; Colette Van Laar; Melanie C Steffens

doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1247193

Predictors of expectant fathers' parental leave-taking intentions before birth: masculinity, fatherhood beliefs, and social support

Front Psychol. 2024 Feb 12:15:1247193. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2024.1247193. eCollection 2024.

Authors

Carolin Scheifele^{1

2

3}, Colette Van Laar¹, Melanie C Steffens³

Affiliations

¹ Center for Social and Cultural Psychology, University of Leuven, Leuven, Belgium.
² PhD Fellow of the Research Foundation-Flanders, Brussels, Belgium.
³ Department of Social, Environmental, and Economic Psychology, RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau, Landau, Germany.

Abstract

Despite continuing progress, men remain underrepresented in childcare, domestic labor, and other care work. Because parental leave is discussed as a gateway to increasing men's childcare engagement, we aimed to gain insights into predictors of men's parental leave-taking intentions during the transition to parenthood. Using outcomes on a continuum from behavioral preferences to more behavior-oriented measures, we examine how masculinity and fatherhood beliefs as well as social support become relevant during men's formation of their leave-taking intentions. Planned analyses of data collected from 143 expectant fathers in Belgium and Germany revealed that the support men perceive from their partners for taking leave predicts their parental leave-taking desire, intention, and planned length of leave. Moreover, men's conception of a prototypical man, especially in terms of agency, was linked to their desire to take leave. Against expectations, father role attitudes and workplace support did not emerge as relevant predictors of men's intended leave-taking. Results of exploratory analyses suggest that care engagement of peers, expected backlash, and self-efficacy beliefs additionally play a role in men's intended leave-taking. We discuss parental leave as a negotiation process within couples and review the role of men's normative environment for their intended leave-taking.

Keywords: fatherhood; masculinity; parental leave; social support; transition to parenthood.

Grants and funding

This work was supported by a fellowship grant from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) to Carolin Scheifele (grant number 11H3420N) and an Odysseus grant from the Research Foundation Flanders (FWO) to Colette Van Laar (grant number G.O.E66.14 N).