The Psychology of Gender 4th Edition

420 Chapter 11

The effect of parental status on health

may differ across cultures. In a cross-cultural

study of 17 nations around the world, being

a parent was associated with less loneliness

but was unrelated to health (Stack, 1998).

The effects on loneliness were stronger for

men than for women. In a comparison of

the United States and India, the presence of

children in the home was associated with

lower satisfaction with home life among

U.S. women but higher satisfaction with

home life among Indian women (Sastry,

1999). Sastry suggested that having children

is more closely tied to a woman’s identity in

India than in the United States. In the United

States, the presence of children is more likely

to lead to role conflict for women because

they assume other roles.

The reason for the contradictory find-

ings regarding parenthood and health is that

Effects of the Parent Role on Health

In general, we tend to believe having chil-

dren is good for our overall life satisfaction

and well-being. However, the data are not so

clear-cut. One study of working women and

men (Bond, Galinsky, & Swanberg, 1998)

concluded that parental status is unrelated

to psychological well-being. Another study

in which women and men wore ambulatory

blood pressure cuffs for 24 hours showed

that parents had lower systolic and diastolic

blood pressure than nonparents but that the

benefit of parenthood was observed only

for women, as shown in Figure 11.10 (Holt-

Lunstad et al., 2009). These effects remained

even when employment was taken into con-

sideration, so it was not that mothers ben-

efitted only because they were less likely than

fathers to be employed.

Are there any adverse effects of homosexual parents on children’s psychological well-

being? The answer appears to be “no” (Patterson, 2009). A meta-analytic review of 19 studies

concluded that there were no effects on cognitive development, gender-role behavior, gender

identity, sexual preference, psychological adjustment, or relationships with parents (Crowl, Ahn,

& Baker, 2008). One concern that people raise is that children of same-sex couples will be teased

by peers. There is evidence that children of homosexual parents are teased at some point because

of their family structure (Goldberg, 2010). However, there does not seem to be any difference

in the quality of peer relations, as assessed by either self-report and peer report (Wainright &

Patterson, 2008). One of the greatest concerns people have expressed is that children raised by

gay and lesbian parents will become homosexual. The meta-analytic review revealed no effect on

sexual preferences (Crowl et al., 2008). Most of the research involves children who were born to

parents who divorced and were then raised by homosexual couples. There is much less research

on children who are adopted by same-sex couples or gay couples.

Thus there seems to be no evidence that heterosexual and homosexual parents differ in

their adjustment levels or parenting abilities. There is also no evidence that a parent’s sexual

orientation influences children’s psychological adjustment, relationships with peers, gender-role

development, or sexual orientation. This field of research challenges psychoanalytic theory and

social learning theory, which maintain it is important for children to be raised by both a male

and a female. Psychoanalytic theory would suggest that children’s gender-role development will

be impeded without a mother and father in the home because both parents are necessary for the

successful resolution of the Oedipal conflict. Social learning theory suggests that children model

their parents’ sexual orientation, which does not appear to be true; otherwise, there would be no

homosexual children with heterosexual parents.

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