“His”, “her”, and “their” perceptions of family life: A comparative analysis of fathers, mothers, and adolescents

© 2010 by Nova Science Publishers, Inc. All rights reserved. The goal of the study was to examine the extent of congruence in the perceptions of parents and their adolescent offspring with regard to the following dimensions of family life: the structural dimension (marital power relations, represented by division of household tasks and equality in decision-making); interpersonal relations (cohesion versus conflict); the cognitive dimension (perceived family coherence); and the parenting dimension (perceived parenting style of mothers and fathers). The sample, which included 399 Israeli participants from 133 families, was comprised of mothers (n=133), fathers (n=133) and adolescent offspring (n=133; 60 boys and 73 girls). The main research question was whether congruence in perceptions of family life is determined by family roles (parents versus offspring), or by gender (like-sex versus opposite-sex parentchild dyads). For most of the family life dimensions, congruence in perceptions of parents and adolescents was determined more by family role than by gender.