Abstract:

Based on a sample of 338 Chinese parents and their only children, paternal resemblance belief was found to attenuate the association between paternal harsh parenting and child characteristics, such as emotion dysregulation and aggression, and to strengthen the association between harsh parenting and such paternal characteristics as depressive affect and marital dissatisfaction. These findings support the evolutionary view that, as an adaptation to calm paternity doubt, paternal resemblance belief leads to improved paternal investment.

Key words: child-parent resemblance, paternal resemblance, paternal investment, harsh parenting