Abstract
The present study investigated how men changed by becoming fathers and what kinds of factors were related to their changes. The participants in this questionnaire survey were 224 fathers whose oldest children were preschoolers. The findings were as follows: 1) The development brought by becoming a father consisted of several components such as "affection for the family," "responsibility and calmness," "expansion of perspectives," "perspective on the past and future," and "loss of freedom." 2) These, except "loss of freedom," were promoted by having interest in child rearing and talking about the child with their wives or friends, while direct involvement with children such as playing or taking a bath with them promoted only "affection for the family." 3) Fathers' involvement in child care was associated not only with individual factors but also with family ones such as marital relations and father-child relations.
