Survey on the Effect of Childcare and Housework Involvement on Parents’ Feeling of “My Child is My Avatar”

Abstract

　Previous studies have suggested that fathers felt that their child was their “avatar” more than the mothers based on their gender and the fact that fathers are less involved in childcare than mothers. As childcare could be an influencing factor, and since this was not a perspective approached by previous studies, we need to focus on the parents’ involvement in childcare and housework, specifically, not only on their gender for examining their feeling of “my child is my avatar.” Therefore, the purpose of this study is to examine the effect of childcare and housework involvement on the parents’ feeling that their child is their “avatar,” while controlling for the parents’ gender. The results of the questionnaire survey on 305 parents (males=161, females=144) showed that the support and discipline factors had a negative effect, while interaction had a positive effect on parents’ “my child is my avatar” feeling. Furthermore, women scored higher than men in all factors of involvement in childcare and housework, while men scored higher in their perception of their children as their “avatars.” These findings demonstrate that parents’ involvement in childcare and housework affects the parents’ “my child is my avatar” feeling with control for parents’ gender.