A cross-cultural perspective on perceptions of paternalistic deficiencies in the United States: The myth of the derelict daddy

Men's work and family lives in India: the daily organization of time and emotion

This article examines daily patterns of work and family life for a sample of middle-class men in northern India. One hundred fathers of 8th graders provided information on their hour-to-hour time use and subjective states, by means of the experience sampling method. They reported little time spent on family work but substantial amounts of time with their children and thinking about their families. At their jobs, they reported high levels of attention but more negative emotion. By contrast, the home sphere elicited lower attention, more favorable affect, and more feeling of choice. Unlike for American samples, little relationship was found between experience at work and home, including little influence of men's work emotions on the family in the evening. These findings reflect how strong traditional family roles in India shape men's daily lives.

Observations of Japanese men and children in public places: a comparative study

The popular image of Japanese men, both in the United States and Japan, is that of "salaryman" who works such long hours that he has no time left for his children. The little empirical evidence available, however, suggests that Japanese men have familial involvement patterns not unlike those of men in the United States. In the study reported here, prepubertal children and adult males in Japan and the USA were observed together disproportionately more often during those times when men were not precluded (by work) from being with children. Further, during those periods children were more likely to be found in groups containing men rather than with women only. In both countries women continue to be the primary caregivers of children. However, previous research has shown that men in the USA, compared to men in other cultures, are not totally uninvolved; Japanese men are not either.