Social contact versus bodily contact: a qualitative difference between father and mother for the son's masculine identity

Behavior Science Research • Vol/Iss. 13 • Published In • Pages: 273-285 •
By Kitahara, Michio

Abstract

This article draws on psychoanalytic theory and a previous study by Whiting (1964) to test the relationship between parent-child sleeping arrangements, particularly the implied social distance of fathers, and the presence of circumcision for males. Circumcision is assumed to be a social correction for mother-oriented personality in sons.

Samples

Sample Used Coded Data Comment
OtherOther ResearchersRecoded Whiting (1964) data on parent-child sleeping arrangements. Used 111 societies from Whiting's original 177.

Hypotheses (5)

HypothesisSupported
Societies in which the mother and son sleep in the same bed and the father sleeps separately in the same hut will be more likely to have male circumcision; societies in which the mother and son sleep separately but in the same hut with the father will be less likely to have male circumsion (279).Supported
When the father sleeps in a separate hut, mother-baby sleeping arrangements (in same or separate beds) will only be weakly associated with circumcision (279).Supported
Societies in which mother and son sleep in the same bed and the father sleeps in another hut/village will be more likely to have male circumcision than societies in which the father sleeps in the same hut (280).Supported
For societies in which the mother and son do not sleep in the same bed, father-son sleeping distance will be more weakly associated with circumcision than in societies where the mother and son sleep in the same bed (281).Supported
Male circumcision becomes more likely when mothers and babies share beds and when fathers sleep in separate huts/villages. Societies with both traits, one trait, and neither trait will be most, less, and least likely to have circumcision, respectively (281-2).Claimed supported
Documents and Hypotheses Filed By: Kate Cummings  Tahlisa Brougham