Why the “Good Provider” Role Still Matters

The adult person is in sociological literature often referred to as a genderless and classless being. As a life course phase it is implicitly viewed as a static destination after a dynamic transition period of youth. The aim of this article is to empirically examine perceptions of adulthood in biographical interviews in three-generation Norwegian families. A case-based biographical approach related to gender and social class across historical periods is at the core of the analysis. Thoughts on independence and the Mead-inspired concept of relationality are used as sensitising concepts to examine general ideals and personal considerations in notions of adulthood. The analyses indicate variations over historical periods, generations and life course phases wherein relationality or independence become significant. Relationality may take on different meanings with reference to period-specific gender expectations such as the male provider role and women as the primary carer in families in the oldest generations. Ideals of individual independence as choice or necessity vary according to life course phase, social class and period-specific conditions.

Download Full-text

Who pays after the first date? Young men’s discourses of the male-provider role.

Psychology of Men & Masculinity ◽

10.1037/a0030603 ◽

2013 ◽

Vol 14 (4) ◽

pp. 389-399 ◽

Cited By ~ 8

Author(s):

Ana L. Jaramillo-Sierra ◽

Katherine R. Allen

Keyword(s):

Provider Role

Download Full-text

Crime fighting: law enforcement and service provider role orientations in community‐based police officers

American Journal of Police ◽

10.1108/07358549510112009 ◽

1995 ◽

Vol 14 (3/4) ◽

pp. 173-195 ◽

Cited By ~ 9

Author(s):

Stephen B. Perrott ◽

Donald M. Taylor

Keyword(s):

Law Enforcement ◽

Service Provider ◽

Police Officers ◽

Community Based ◽

Role Orientations ◽

Provider Role

Download Full-text

Gender and Family Ideals

Journal of Family Issues ◽

10.1177/019251300021007001 ◽

2000 ◽

Vol 21 (7) ◽

pp. 811-837 ◽

Cited By ~ 22

Author(s):

FAUSTINA E. HAYNES

Keyword(s):

Black Women ◽

Black Men ◽

Family Life ◽

Role Strain ◽

Male And Female ◽

Self Worth ◽

Second Shift ◽

Provider Role ◽

Gender Specific

This article relies on in-depth, open-ended interviews with 15 Black men to explore three questions: What do Black men and Black women expect from marital life? How did these expectations evolve? and What impact, if any, will these expectations have on the cycle of the second shift and provider role strain? The author found that the male and female respondents expect that men will take on the provider roles in their families because a man's self-worth is rooted in his ability to take on the provider role. Respondents also expect that women will be nurturers in their families. This is not to suggest that the male respondents expect that their wives will be submissive—far from it. In fact, the male respondents expect their wives to work. However, regardless of whether women work or not, the respondents insist that men have to be providers and women have to be nurturers in their families. Finally, the male and female respondents intend to pass/have passed their gender-specific ideologies about family life and spousal roles on to their children.

Download Full-text

Men's Provider-Role Attitudes

Journal of Family Issues ◽

10.1177/019251390011002002 ◽

1990 ◽

Vol 11 (2) ◽

pp. 136-156 ◽

Cited By ~ 90

Author(s):

MAUREEN PERRY-JENKINS ◽

ANN C. CROUTER

Keyword(s):

Work And Family ◽

Family Roles ◽

Family Work ◽

Household Tasks ◽

Telephone Interviews ◽

Dual Earner ◽

The Family ◽

Work And Family Roles ◽

Provider Role ◽

Egalitarian Attitudes

The aim of the current investigation was to link men's provider-role attitudes with their involvement in household tasks. This study examines not only the objective division of work both inside and outside of the home, but also emphasizes the importance of examining the cognitions and affect that men attach to their work and family roles. It was proposed that men holding more traditional attitudes about their duty to provide economically for the family would perform fewer household tasks than men with more egalitarian attitudes. The study involved 43 dual-earner couples who participated in home interviews and in a series of telephone interviews. Results revealed that men's provider-role attitudes were related to their involvement in family work. Furthermore, the congruence of role beliefs and the enactment of role behaviors within the home were related to higher levels of marital satisfaction for men.

Download Full-text