skip to main content
Mothers Still Perceived as Having More Dominant Influence Than Fathers, but Dads Don't Seem to Mind

Mothers Still Perceived as Having More Dominant Influence Than Fathers, but Dads Don't Seem to Mind

Although perceived to be less influential than mothers, fathers are more content with their treatment by family members

by Chris Chambers

GALLUP NEWS SERVICE

PRINCETON, NJ -- Father's Day might be a good opportunity for some children to assuage their guilt about the way they treat their fathers. According to a Gallup poll conducted May 5-7, 2000, only 72% of Americans feel they have shown enough appreciation to their fathers. But don't worry, kids -- your fathers aren't holding grudges. In fact, from the fathers' perspectives the story is somewhat different: the vast majority -- nine out of ten -- believe their families appreciate them enough. Interestingly, if not surprisingly, the opposite is true for mothers. More family members claim to have shown appreciation to their mothers than to their fathers (81% versus 72%), yet slightly fewer mothers than fathers feel that their families appreciate them enough (85% compared to 90%).

Mothers Remain the Dominant Influence
Today, the proportion of individuals indicating that their fathers, rather than their mothers, had a greater influence on their lives when they were growing up is larger than when Gallup first asked this question in 1951. The most recent numbers show 28% of adult children saying their father was the more influential parent, compared to 22% in 1951. Even so, both in 1951 and presently, Americans continue to be more likely to say that mothers were the dominant influence in their lives. In the current poll, more than half of American adults -- 53% -- indicate that their mother had the greater influence on them. Interestingly, as was the case for fathers, mothers are also more often credited with being the dominant influence today than in 1951 (when 48% cited their mother). The real difference is a decline in the percentage of Americans who say both parents were equally influential -- from 25% in 1951 to 15% today.

Men are more likely than women to say their fathers had the greater influence on their lives. This gap widens further when considering both gender and age: while 40% of males 18 to 49 years old believe their fathers were more influential than their mothers, this proportion drops to 23% for males 50 years and older.

In the same vein, when asked to rate the nature of the influence their fathers had on their lives, men tend to give their fathers slightly higher scores than do women, with 81% of men saying their fathers were "very" or "somewhat" positive influences, compared to 73% of women who give positive ratings to their fathers. There is greater agreement about the positive influence of mothers, with 89% of men and 87% of women agreeing that their mothers had "very" or "somewhat" positive influences on them.

Fathers Have Positive Relationships with Children
The vast majority, 83%, of those with fathers living today characterize their current relationship with their father as "very" or "somewhat" positive. However, an even larger proportion, 92%, of adults with living mothers characterize their relationships with their mothers as positive. Again, men tend to be slightly more positive about their relationships with their fathers than are women (87% vs. 80%).

An intriguing twist arises when both age and gender are considered. The older a woman is, the more positively she views her relationship with her father, while the older a man is, the more negatively he rates his father-son relationship. To be specific, males aged 18 to 49 rate their relationships with their fathers higher than do those aged 50 or older (63% versus 48% "very positive"). However, the converse is true of females: those 18 to 49 years old give lower ratings to their relationships with their fathers than do those aged 50 or older (53% versus 78% "very positive").

Survey Methods
The results below are based on telephone interviews with a randomly selected national sample of 1,031 adults, 18 years and older, conducted May 5-7, 2000. For results based on this sample, one can say with 95 percent confidence that the maximum error attributable to sampling and other random effects is plus or minus 3 percentage points. In addition to sampling error, question wording and practical difficulties in conducting surveys can introduce error or bias into the findings of public opinion polls.

Looking back on the time when you were growing up, which of your parents would you say had the greater influence on your life -- your mother or your father?

 

 

Mother

Father

BOTH EQUALLY (vol.)

NEITHER/ OTHER (vol.)

No opinion

           

2000 May 5-7

         

Total

53%

28

15

4

*

Men

45%

34

16

4

1

Women

61%

22

14

3

--

           

1997 Feb 24-26

53%

27

17

2

1

1951 Aug 3-8

48%

22

25

--

5



Thinking back would you say that your [ROTATE: mother/father] had a very positive influence, a somewhat positive influence, neither positive nor negative, a somewhat negative influence, or a very negative influence on you? How about your … ?

 

 

Very posi-
tive

Somewhat posi-
tive

Neither posi-
tive nor nega-
tive

Somewhat nega-
tive

Very nega-
tive

NOT APPLIC-
ABLE (vol.)

No opinion

               

A. Mother

             
               

2000 May 5-7

             

Total

64%

24

5

3

2

1

1

Men

65%

24

5

2

1

2

1

Women

63%

24

4

4

3

1

1



 

B. Father

             
               

2000 May 5-7

             

Total

49%

28

7

7

5

1

3

Men

52%

29

6

6

3

2

2

Women

46%

27

7

9

7

1

3



How would you characterize your relationship with your mother today -- is it very positive, somewhat positive, neither positive nor negative, somewhat negative, or very negative?

BASED ON -- 649 -- WHOSE MOTHER IS LIVING TODAY; +/- 4 PCT PTS

 

 

Very posi-
tive

Somewhat posi-
tive

Neither posi-
tive nor nega-
tive

Somewhat nega-
tive

Very nega-
tive

NOT APPLIC-
ABLE (vol.)

No opinion

               

2000 May 5-7

             

Total

74%

18

4

2

2

*

--

Men

74%

18

5

2

1

*

--

Women

74%

18

3

3

2

*

--



How would you characterize your relationship with your father today -- is it very positive, somewhat positive, neither positive nor negative, somewhat negative, or very negative?

BASED ON -- 523 -- WHOSE FATHER IS LIVING TODAY; +/- 4 PCT PTS

 

 

Very posi-
tive

Somewhat posi-
tive

Neither posi-
tive nor nega-
tive

Somewhat nega-
tive

Very nega-
tive

NOT APPLIC-
ABLE (vol.)

No opinion

               

2000 May 5-7

             

Total

59%

24

8

3

5

1

--

Men

62%

25

6

2

4

1

--

Women

56%

24

10

4

5

1

--



Do you feel your family appreciates you enough as a mother, or do they not appreciate you enough?

BASED ON -- 408 -- MOTHERS; +/- 5 PCT PTS

 

 

Yes, enough

No, not enough

No opinion

       

2000 May 5-7

85%

14

1



Do you feel your family appreciates you enough as a father, or do they not appreciate you enough?

BASED ON -- 316 -- FATHERS; +/- 6 PCT PTS

 

 

Yes, enough

No, not enough

No opinion

       

2000 May 5-7

90

8

2



Looking back on your life, would you say you, personally, have shown or showed enough appreciation to your own [ROTATE: mother/father]?How about to your own… ?

 

 

Yes

No

DOES NOT APPLY (vol.)

No opinion



A. Mother

 

2000 May 5-7

       

Total

81%

16

1

2

Men

81%

16

1

2

Women

82%

15

*

3



B. Father

 

2000 May 5-7

       

Total

72%

21

4

3

Men

73%

22

3

2

Women

70%

21

4

5



* Less than 0.5%
(vol.) Volunteered response


Gallup https://news.gallup.com/poll/2812/Mothers-Still-Perceived-Having-More-Dominant-Influence-Than-Fathers.aspx
Gallup World Headquarters, 901 F Street, Washington, D.C., 20001, U.S.A
+1 202.715.3030