<i>Does She Let Me In?</i> Fathers' Perception of Maternal Gatekeeping and Their Parenting Involvement in Indonesia

This study examines the associations between fathers’ perceptions of maternal behaviors (specifically encouragement, discouragement, and control) and their self-reported involvement in childcare. Drawing from social cognition theory, we reframed maternal gatekeeping as a subjective interpretation influencing paternal engagement. Data from 546 fathers (M age = 38.8) with children aged 6–12 were analyzed using multiple regression. Results showed that fathers’ perceptions accounted for 27.3% of the variance in involvement. Perceived maternal encouragement had the strongest positive association ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>β</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mo>.</mml:mo> <mml:mn>411</mml:mn> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mi>p</mml:mi> <mml:mo>&lt;</mml:mo> <mml:mo>.</mml:mo> <mml:mn>001</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> ), followed by perceived control ( <mml:math xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" overflow="scroll"> <mml:mrow> <mml:mi>β</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mo>.</mml:mo> <mml:mn>145</mml:mn> <mml:mo>,</mml:mo> <mml:mi>p</mml:mi> <mml:mo>=</mml:mo> <mml:mo>.</mml:mo> <mml:mn>002</mml:mn> </mml:mrow> </mml:math> ), while discouragement showed a modest negative association. Notably, 96.52% of fathers reported high involvement, challenging deficit narratives about Indonesian fatherhood. In this collectivist context, fathers may interpret maternal control as coordination rather than restriction. The findings emphasize centering fathers’ voices in coparenting research and highlight the need for culturally sensitive interventions that recognize the nuanced role of maternal gatekeeping in shaping paternal engagement.