Disparaged dads? A content analysis of depictions of fathers in U.S. sitcoms over time
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 22249296 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Erica Scharrer (0000-0002-7479-9076, University of Massachusetts Amherst), Stephen M Warren (0000-0002-2137-4461, University of Massachusetts Amherst), Eean Grimshaw (0000-0003-2259-6864, University of Massachusetts Amherst), Gichuhi Kamau (0000-0001-5543-1025, University of Massachusetts Amherst), Sarah Cho (0000-0001-7984-9733, University of Massachusetts Amherst), Menno H Reijven (0000-0001-8014-5098, University of Massachusetts Amherst), Congcong Zhang (0009-0002-0873-3180, Florida State University) |
| Year | 2021 |
| Volume | 10 |
| Issue | 2 |
| Pages | 275-287 |
| Publication date | 2021-04-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Psychology of Popular Media (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2689-6567 • E-ISSN: 2689-6575 |
| Publisher | American Psychological Association (APA) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1037/ppm0000289 |
| OpenAlex | W3026354452 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 21 |
Social statistics show marked changes in roles and norms associated with fatherhood in U.S. society over time. This quantitative content analysis examines whether TV content has kept pace with such changes through the analysis of depictions of the father character and his interactions with children in the family-oriented situation comedy genre. In all, 578 scenes from 34 top-rated U.S. family-oriented sitcoms from 1980 through 2017 are examined to explore the depiction of the father character over time. Changes in the depiction of the father as foolish approached significance by decade but were not linear. No change occurred in proportion of humorous exchanges in which fathers were the butt of the joke. Interestingly, fathers interacted less frequently with children in key parenting behaviors, and such interactions became more likely to show the father as humorously foolish in some more recent decades compared with sitcoms from previous decades. Working class fathers were not found to be more foolishly depicted than fathers from other class positions. Implications for audiences through the lenses of social–cognitive theory and cultivation theory are discussed
Content analysis · Developmental psychology · Social science · Sociology · Gender, Feminism, and Media · Mathematics · Media Influence and Health · Media, Gender, and Advertising · Psychology
Content analysis
Computing inter‐rater reliability and its variance in the presence of high agreement
Developing a Typology of Humor in Audiovisual Media
Living with Television
Class and gender in four decades of television situation comedy
Stay tuned
Contributions of television use to beliefs about fathers and gendered family roles among first-time expectant parents
When Everyone is Laughing
Depictions of Gender on Primetime Television
Cultivating Conceptions of Masculinity
The family on television
Video Game Characters and the Socialization of Gender Roles
Media and Modern Manhood
The Influence of Parenting Style on Adolescent Competence and Substance Use
Senses of humor, media use, and opinions about the treatment of marginalized groups
A Critical Analysis of Cultivation Theory
Humor as a Double-Edged Sword
Social Cognitive Theory
The American Family on Television
Introduction
Humor in Television Advertising
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1 |
| Citation span | 2022 - 2026 (5) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |