The Timing of Fatherhood: What Have We Learned?

Abstract

In this book, we examined a construct associated with age but one that is more than age: the social clock. This construct refers to societal expectations for the timing of major life events. These socially sanctioned normative ages can motivate adults to seek to attain a life goal. The social clock was vetted as a mechanism for understanding many facets of men’s transition to parenthood. And the transition to parenthood epitomizes a major life event. As Eggebeen and colleagues put it recently, “parenthood is permanent” and, not surprisingly, it has psychological consequences for men (Eggebeen, Knoester, & McDaniel, 2013, p. 343). And pregnancy is not for women only! Preparation for parenthood entails psychological reorganization of the self (Genesoni & Tallandini, 2009). Men experience changes in self and key domains of their lives during the prenatal period as they get ready for fatherhood.