2000 Volume 14 Issue 1 Pages 15-27
This paper examined the relations of father's cooperation with family chores to child's empathy, family function and father's identity development. 308 married couples with a kindergarten child living in Saitama were selected as subjects. Two kinds of questionnaires, that is, the measure of father's cooperation with family chores and father's identity development, were administered to these fathers. As for mothers, two kinds of questionnaires, that is, the scale of family function and mother's recognition of the child's empathy, were administered.
Results showed that both of the subscales of father's cooperation with family chores named “comunication between husband and wife” and “support to domestic duties” had significant positive correlations with child's empathy. Further, one of the subscales named “communication between husband and wife” had significant positive correlation with all of the four subscales of father's identity development. As to family function, 12 of 14 subscales showed significant correlations with child's empathy development. These results were discussed mainly from the previous studies concerning family system, empathy, and identity development.
