Die Studie ergab Unterschiede in der Art und Weise, wie Mütter und Väter ihre Beziehung im Laufe der Zeit wahrnahmen. Väter berichten, dass die Häufigkeit von Konflikten abnahm, während Mütter berichten, dass sie mit zunehmendem Alter der Kinder zunahm. Dies deutet darauf hin, dass Mütter mit zunehmender Komplexität des Familienlebens mehr Spannungen wahrnahmen als Väter.
Mothers and fathers report diverging trends in relationship conflict during early childhood
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Please note that the study is paywalled, but the „increased age“ was 4 years old as opposed to infancy.
There are also some minor typos in the little free blurb of the study.
I’ve linked to the news release in the post above. In this comment, for those interested, here’s the link to the peer reviewed journal article:
https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/02654075251404996
From the linked article:
Mothers and fathers report diverging trends in relationship conflict during early childhood
New research suggests that mothers and fathers often perceive the trajectory of relationship conflict differently during the early years of parenthood. A longitudinal analysis indicates that while fathers tended to report decreasing frequencies of arguments as their child grew from infancy to preschool age, mothers reported an increase. Published in the Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, the findings also provide evidence that escalating conflict reported by mothers is specifically associated with lower social and emotional skills in their children.
The researchers **found a clear divergence in how mothers and fathers perceived their relationship over time. Fathers reported that the frequency of conflict decreased from the time the child was 9 months old to 4 years old**.
**Mothers provided a different account of the same period. Their reports indicated that the frequency of conflict increased as the child aged. This suggests that as family life became more complex with a growing child, mothers perceived more friction than fathers did**.
The researchers also looked at what the parents were arguing about. Fathers tended to report higher initial levels of conflict regarding money, household chores, and leisure time. Mothers were more likely to report higher conflict specifically related to child-rearing issues.
Makes sense to me. Mothers caring and doting on their child is good and needed as long as children are small and helpless. Fathers are generally trying to prepare their child to become independent. Naturally these forces work for the child-father connection and against the child-mother connection. The father‘s „goals“ are realized while the mother‘s role and necessity diminishes and she „loses relevancy“.
This of course doesn’t mean to say children don’t still love and care for either parent. But subconsciously the „need“ for a mother becomes less. The mother‘s role runs against the child‘s growing independence. And the father likes and respects the child’s independence. Maybe even supports it more than the mother.
But that’s just my armchair psychology talking.