Fathers’ Involvement in Chinese Societies: Increasing Presence, Uneven Progress

Abstract Chinese fathers, who have been understudied, traditionally were expected to act as emotionally distant educators and disciplinarians of their children as well as heads of the household. Their dual roles as parents and as men evolved during modern social transformations following divergent paths, with their parental role departing from the Confucian patriarchal ideal further than did their gender role. Today, in Chinese societies, fathers are more involved in child-rearing and warmer to their children than their predecessors, but comparable progress toward a quantitatively and qualitatively equal division of child-rearing responsibilities between parents remains lacking. Chinese fathers’ involvement varies by geolocation, social class, and maternal support; their participation in their children’s lives benefits children’s adjustment, possibly through secure father–child attachment, and is influenced by the relationship between fathers and mothers. Researchers should address how Chinese fathers’ increasing but gendered involvement affects children’s and families’ functioning, study fathers in diverse families, and incorporate grandparents into research on fathering.