The characteristics on the mother’s and father’s concept on actual and ideal paternal behavior are provided. Thirty couples (mean age 33 years old), with at least one child between 3-6 years old, participated in the investigation. Data collection was undertaken by filling a form with paternal style scales in which the respondents evaluated the behavior of the father in actual and ideal terms. Quantitative analysis of data showed no significant difference in the concepts of mother and father on what would be the ideal behavior of the father concerning the child. However, in real terms, there was a tendency of the fathers to evaluate their participation as more effective than the mothers had in mind. Finally, both parents considered that the paternal behavior ideal is distant from what actually occurs with regard to didactic and social interaction aspects, with the exception of discipline.
Parental behavior; beliefs; child development
