Impact of Men’s Perceptions of Gender Roles and Jointness/Operationality on Couple Parenting: Joint Participation in the Finalized Couple Parenting Promotion Program

Abstract

This study aimed to elucidate the relationship between factors associated with improved couple parenting by modeling them using a path diagram, thereby revealing an integrated understanding of the overall structure. It intended to identify changes in couple parenting, new perceptions of male roles, and impacts on operability/collaboration following the joint participation of couples in a four-week Couple Parenting Promotion Program that utilizes a Recognition and Implementation Evaluation Sheet. From June to September 2025, the survey was conducted on husbands or wives with preschool-aged children from all prefectures across Japan. Cooperation in the finalized Couples Parenting Promotion Program was sought from 473 couples. They undertook and completed assessments of new male roles, communion–Agency, and perceptions of couple parenting. Analysis was conducted on 247 valid respondents and their spouses for a total of 494 individuals. After formulating hypotheses regarding changes in perceptions of couple parenting and their relationship with new male roles and the communion-Agency scale, path analysis was performed to refine and improve the model. The modified model demonstrated excellent fit (GFI = .998, AGFI = .970, RMSEA = .019, χ² = 35.42, df = 30, p = .228). Improvements in couple parenting were influenced by the synergistic effect of the couple parenting perception subscale and the promoting effects of positive togetherness and positive operativity, which resulted in significant increases in scores for the four subscales of the Short-Form Couple Parenting Perception Scale. Notably, the effect size for “Shared Responsibility and Difficulties” was large (0.5), which can be attributed to the negative effect of “Positive Jointness” on “Negative Functioning,” which, in turn, negatively suppressed “Shared Responsibility and Difficulties” via “Negative Functioning,” ultimately yielding a positive overall effect. Meanwhile, the perceived subscales of Couple Parenting influenced new masculine roles, which did not influence or was not correlated with couple parenting. Approaches that target negative operability thinking and couple communication that focus on agreement and negotiation regarding childrearing provided strong evidence of improvement in couple parenting. Promoting improved couple parenting was strongly supported by approaches that target negative operability thinking and couple communication centered on agreement and negotiation regarding child-rearing.