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An exploratory study of the father-daughter dyad and its relationship with the daughter's intimate heterosexual relationships within the Puerto Rican culture
Abstract
Even though most psychological theories postulate the father's influence in the daughter's choice of mate, few studies have addressed this specific aspect of the father-daughter relationship. The subject has remained basically unexplored within the Puerto Rican culture, especially within the predominantly middle class family. This research used an exploratory mode due to the scarcity of research in this area. Subjects selected consisted of 120 Puerto Rican women, ages 30 to 50, who had at least a high school education, who lived in Puerto Rico, and who were involved in an ongoing heterosexual relationship with a husband or companion. Participants filled out a demographic and a research questionnaire developed for this study consisted of two sections of a Likert type scale, one section of a Semantic Differential and an open-ended question. The questionnaire explored daughters' perceptions of their fathers, husbands/ companions and themselves. The study also included five individual interviews of father-daughter dyads. Overall results found statistically significant differences between the two groups (fathers and husbands/companions) for each one of the characteristics measured: similarities between father and husband/companion; parents' and mates' childrearing practices, expectations and teachings; their assimilation of father's and mother's teachings; their father-daughter relationship; their parents' and their own marital relationships. Analysis of responses to the questions about characteristics and behaviors of the fathers and husbands/companions of the participant's perceptions indicates that daughters do not choose mates exhibiting behaviors and/or characteristics similar to their fathers. Analysis of other questions directly asking the daughters about resemblances between the two revealed that most of the participants perceive their partners as being more similar than not to their fathers. The daughters of divorced parents reported significantly less similarity between fathers and husbands/companions. Even though not significantly different, the mean scores of daughters with deceased fathers fell in between the daughters of divorced fathers and the daughters with fathers still alive. Oral interviews disclosed similarities between subjects' fathers and husbands/companions and the pursuit of partners that were opposite to fathers on specific qualities or behaviors (e.g.: alcoholic father; non-drinker husband/companion).
Subject Area
Womens studies|Ethnic studies|Individual & family studies|Sociology
Recommended Citation
Rullan-Ramirez, Carmen, "An exploratory study of the father-daughter dyad and its relationship with the daughter's intimate heterosexual relationships within the Puerto Rican culture" (1990). Doctoral Dissertations Available from Proquest. AAI9110209.
https://scholarworks.umass.edu/dissertations/AAI9110209