title: Father psychological absence and heterosexual behavior, personal adjustment and sex-typing in adolescent girls.
abstract: Until recently, research efforts have neglected the father as a significant influence on female personality development. This study proposed that the psychological absence of the father is related to a greater frequency and extent of heterosexual behaviors, increased anxiety as a personality trait and increased anxiety in a dating situation. A positive psychological presence of the father was hypothesized to correlate with androgyny in adolescent females. Measures of perceived parental behavior, extent and frequency of heterosexual behaviors, manifest anxiety and sex-role identification were obtained from 160 single female college students. Results indicated a significant relationship between father psychological absence and a greater extent and frequency of heterosexual behaviors. Father psychologically absent girls also exhibited greater manifest anxiety as a personality trait and in a dating situation. Significant correlations between androgyny and a positive father-daughter relationship were not found. Also reported were additional findings relating several variables to self-rating of attractiveness.
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D005219:Father-Child Relations; D005260:Female; D005783:Gender Identity; D006801:Humans; D007062:Identification, Psychological; D010333:Paternal Deprivation; D012725:Sexual Behavior; D012917:Social Adjustment