ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on the shifts from the closed-ended questions in the Bem sex role inventories and Mirande sex role inventories to open-ended questions about manhood, qualities admired in men, and conceptions of the role of the father in the family. Although men who scored high on the masculinity component of the BSRI were expected to be more inclined to see not supporting the family as the worst or lowest thing a man could do, the opposite pattern was found. Responses to which specific qualities were most respected or admired in a man were grouped into three categories. These are personal qualities such as warmth or kindness, being respectful or respected by others and honesty, trustworthiness, or being ethical. Respondents were asked what they felt was their "most important responsibility or duty" to their children. Respondents were asked to reflect on their own values or ideology about child rearing and on how they learned about parenting.
