Latino Fathers: The Relationship Among Machismo, Acculturation, Ethnic Identity, and Paternal Involvement

Paternal involvement with children is associated with better outcomes for children and family functioning. There are, however, few data examining the intersection of cultural norms and paternal involvement. For Latino fathers in the United States, paternal involvement may vary on the basis of cultural and gender norms, acculturation process, and ethnic identity. The current study used self-report surveys to examine the perceptions of 67 Latino fathers regarding their paternal involvement, machismo (i.e., macho and caballerismo), degree of acculturation, and ethnic identity. The bivariate correlations revealed Latino fathers' Latino acculturation, and macho attitudes were significantly associated with paternal involvement, whereas ethnic identity and caballerismo attitudes were not. In the linear regression analysis, only Latino fathers' macho attitudes were negatively associated with paternal involvement after accounting for the variance in the other variables.