The Intergenerational Transmission of Parenting Among Lithuanian Men

This article aims to analyze the intergenerational transmission of parenting among Lithuanian men. Numerous studies have proven that parenting can be transmitted intergenerationally, with both supportive and harsh parenting behaviours being passed on. However, to the authors’ knowledge, there is a lack of evidence stemming from Central and Eastern European countries where, in recent decades, substantial shifts have taken place in the family gender roles and cultural scripts of parenting. Little is known about the transmission of psychological control as a parenting practice. Furthermore, most of the existing evidence on intergenerational transmission is drawn from the samples of mothers. This study is based on a large‐scale representative cohort dataset encompassing middle‐aged men born in the 1970s and 1980s (𝑁 = 1,745). This study’s main finding is the continuity of the intergenerational transmission of parenting despite major socio‐cultural shifts related to gender and family in society. We found that men’s emotionally warm fathering was linked to having experienced supportive parenting during childhood. Conversely, behavioural control in fathering was attributed to the experience of authoritarian parenting in childhood. Men’s psychological control, as a fathering practice, was associated with both supportive and authoritarian parenting experienced in childhood, although the predictive value was low. Additionally, the study revealed that men’s parenting was associated with their personality traits and parental self‐efficacy. The relationship between men’s fathering and socio‐economic characteristics was inconsistent.