Motivations and Barriers to Men's Interest in Childcare: The Role of Norm Perception and Sexual Orientation Stereotyping.
This study examined how sexual orientation stereotypes and perceived norms shape young gay and straight men's perceptions of motivations and barriers to interest in early childhood education and care (ECEC) careers. Gay and straight men (N = 364) estimated interest and then reported barriers and mot...
| Published in: | Journal of Applied Social Psychology Vol. 56; no. 5; pp. 333 - 345 |
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| Main Authors: | , , , , |
| Format: | Article |
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Wiley-Blackwell
May2026
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| Subjects: | |
| Online Access: | View this record in EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=193365561&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 193365561 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 00219029 JAV jtl: Journal of Applied Social Psychology issn: 00219029 maglogo: Y pubinfo: dt: May2026 vid: 56 iid: 5 pid: 480 pub: Wiley-Blackwell artinfo: ui: 193365561 10.1111/jasp.70051 ppf: 333 ppct: 12 formats: tig: atl: Motivations and Barriers to Men's Interest in Childcare: The Role of Norm Perception and Sexual Orientation Stereotyping. aug: au: Haines, Serena Hegarty, Peter Nater, Christa Graf, Sylvie Sczesny, Sabine affil: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Arts, Masaryk University, Brno, Czech Republic Institute of Psychology, Czech Academy of Sciences, Brno, Czech Republic School of Psychology and Counselling, The Open University, Milton Keynes, UK Institute of Psychology, University of Bern, Bern, Switzerland su: Early childhood education Child care Men Motivation (Psychology) Sexual orientation Social norms Gender stereotypes Wages Work environment sug: subj: Early childhood education Child care Men Motivation (Psychology) Sexual orientation Social norms Gender stereotypes Wages Work environment keyword: gender stereotypes men in early childhood education and care (ECEC) occupational gender segregation pluralistic ignorance sexual orientation stereotyping gender stereotypes men in early childhood education and care (ECEC) occupational gender segregation pluralistic ignorance sexual orientation stereotyping ab: This study examined how sexual orientation stereotypes and perceived norms shape young gay and straight men's perceptions of motivations and barriers to interest in early childhood education and care (ECEC) careers. Gay and straight men (N = 364) estimated interest and then reported barriers and motivations influencing men's interest in childcare work; either for themselves, gay men, or straight men. Men overestimated gay men's interest in childcare work, regardless of their own sexual orientation. As key barriers, participants cited the low salary, poor working conditions, and the gendered association of childcare with femininity, whereas key motivators were positive interactions with children, salary increases, and intrinsic rewards associated with a care‐oriented career. Patterns of distorted norm perception and sexual orientation stereotyping emerged: straight men believed traditional masculinity norms discouraged other straight men more than themselves (i.e., pluralistic ignorance), and gay men overestimated communal motivations of other gay men. These findings highlight how sexual orientation stereotypes and misperceptions of norms reinforce occupational segregation. The discussion addresses the implications of these dynamics for diversifying the ECEC workforce and calls for interventions that challenge restrictive identity‐based assumptions about caregiving roles. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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