African American father-daughter relationships: The impact on the daughters' perception of and interaction with men.

Abstract

This study examined the quality of experiences African American women (N = 119) have with their fathers and the effects of the quality of this relationship on the daughters' perception of and interaction with African American men in their personal (i.e., husbands, significant others, friends, brothers, cousins, uncles) and public lives (i.e., men at work, men who are not friends but, one frequently encounters). The daughters represent a sample of highly educated women, ages 30 to 87, who attended the University of Michigan. Family background and family dynamics were assessed separately for the quality of father-daughter relationship and the type of men the daughters found attractive. Both descriptive and quantitative analyses were conducted. Overall, the daughters reported experiencing high quality relationships with their fathers. Mothers education was the only family background variable which influenced the reported quality of the father-daughter relationship. The perception of fathers' attitudes toward African American women was the only family dynamic variable which influenced the father-daughter relationship quality. Family background and family dynamics did not influence the type of men daughters found attractive. In general, the women held positive attitudes toward African American men. The quality of father-daughter relationship significantly influenced the type of men the daughters' found attractive. Several least squares regression were used, controlling for age, to estimate different parts of the framework. The results of the study suggest that African American father-daughter relationships are both significant and long term. African American fathers are actively involved in the lives of their daughters. African American father-daughter relationships should be examined in the context of the family. African American women who have high quality relationships with their fathers tend to have longer lasting romantic relationships with men than their counterparts. The limitations of the sample size and its homogeneity were noted. Implications for practice and future research also were discussed.