The stepfamily represents an increasingly common form of the family structure. Numerous studies have nonetheless shown that people living in stepfamilies are often stigmatized. The present study focused on public opinion based on a representative sample (N = 1,202) regarding: (a) stepfamilies as a unit; (b) the current situation and future of children; (c) the rights and responsibilities of stepparents; and (d) the perception of stepparents as well as the stereotypes about them. The results showed that people had a favorable opinion about some dimensions, like the future of children living in stepfamilies, but an examination of stereotypes concerning stepfathers and perceptions about stepparents showed a more unfavorable opinion. A latent class analysis showed that there were three opinion profiles. Though there was a positive perception of several stepfamily dimensions, it can be seen that the opinions about stepfamilies were not monolithic. Moreover, the stereotype of the sexual abuser was always present.
AmatoP. R. (2014). Tradition, commitment, and individualism in American marriages. Psychological Inquiry, 25(1), 42–46. doi:10.1080/1047840X.2014.877812
2.
BryanS. H.GanongL. H.ColemanM.BryanL. R. (1985). Counselors’ perceptions of stepparents and stepchildren. Journal of Counseling Psychology, 32(2), 279–282. doi:10.1037/0022-0167.32.2.279
3.
CherlinA. (1978). Remarriage as an incomplete institution. American Journal of Sociology, 84(3), 634–650.
4.
Claxton-OldfieldS. (1992). Perceptions of stepfathers: Disciplinary and affectionate behavior. Journal of Family Issues, 13(3), 378–389. doi:10.1177/019251392013003007
5.
Claxton-OldfieldS. (2008). Stereotypes of stepfamilies and stepfamily members. In PryorJ. (Ed.), The international handbook of stepfamilies: Policy and practice in legal, research, and clinical environments (pp. 30–52). Hoboken, NJ: Wiley.
6.
Claxton-OldfieldS.GarberT.GillcristK. (2006). Young adults’ perceptions of their relationships with their stepfathers and biological fathers. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 45(1–2), 51–61. doi:10.1300/J087v45n01_03
7.
Claxton-OldfieldS.GoodyearC.ParsonsT.Claxton-OldfieldJ. (2002). Some possible implications of negative stepfather stereotypes. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 36(3–4), 77–88. doi:10.1300/J087v36n03_05
8.
Claxton-OldfieldS.KavanaghP. (1999). The effect of stepfamily status on impressions of children’s report card information. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 32(1–2), 145–153. doi:10.1300/J087v32n01_09
9.
Claxton-OldfieldS.O’NeilS. (2007). Perceptions of gay and lesbian stepfamilies. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 46(3–4), 1–8. doi:10.1300/J087v46n03_01
10.
Claxton-OldfieldS.O’NeillS.ThomsonC.GallantB. (2005). Multiple stereotypes of stepfathers. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 44(1–2), 165–176. doi:10.1300/J087v44n01_09
11.
ColemanM.GanongL. (1987). The cultural stereotyping in stepfamilies. In PasleyK.Inhinger-TallmanM. (Eds.), Remarriage and stepparenting. Current research and theory (pp. 19–41). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
12.
ColemanM.GanongL. H.CableS. M. (1996). Perceptions of stepparents. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 26(1–2), 25–48. doi:10.1300/J087v26n01_02
13.
CollinsL. M.LanzaS. T. (2010). Latent class and latent transition analysis: With applications in the social, behavioral, and health sciences. New York, NY: Wiley.
14.
CouperM. P.KapteynA.SchonlauM.WinterJ. (2007). Noncoverage and nonresponse in an internet survey. Social Science Research, 36(1), 131–148.
15.
DesrosiersH. (2017). Diversité et mouvance familiales durant l’enfance et l’adolescence: Regard sur les parcours des enfants québécois nés à la fin des années 1990. 89e Congrès de l’ACFAS. Montréal, Université McGill.
16.
DeyI.WassofF. (2006). Mixed messages: Parental responsibilities, public opinion and the reforms of family law. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 20(2), 225–248. doi:10.1093/lawfam/ebl013
17.
DuncanS.PhillipsM. (2008). New families? Tradition and change in partnering and relationships. In ParkA.CurticeJ.ThomsonK.PhillippsM.JohnsonM.CleryE. (Eds.), British social attitudes: The 24th report (pp. 1–28). London: SAGE Publications.
18.
EsmerY. (2007). Globalization, “McDonaldization” and values: Quo vadis? In EsmerY.PetterssonT. (Eds.), Measuring and mapping cultures: 25 years of comparative value surveys (pp. 79–98). Leiden: Brill.
19.
FanW.YanZ. (2010). Factors affecting response rates of the web survey: A systematic review. Computers in Human Behavior, 26(2), 132–139.
20.
GałęzewskaP.Perelli-HarrisB.BerringtonA. (2017). Cross-national differences in women’s repartnering behaviour in Europe: The role of individual demographic characteristics. Demographic Research, 37(8), 189–228. doi:10.4054/DemRes.2017.37.8
21.
GanongL. H.ColemanM. (1997a). Effects of family structure information on nurses’ impression formation and verbal responses. Research in Nursing & Health, 20(2), 139–151. doi:10.1002/(SICI)1098-240X(199704)20:2<139::AID-NUR6>3.0.CO;2-L
22.
GanongL. H.ColemanM. (1997b). How society views stepfamilies. Marriage & Family Review, 26(1–2), 85–106. doi:10.1300/J002v26n01_06&?
23.
GanongL. H.ColemanM. (2017). The cultural context of stepfamilies. In GanongL. H.ColemanM. (Eds.), Stepfamily relationships: Development, dynamics, and interventions (2nd ed., pp. 21–36). New York, NY: Springer Nature.
24.
GanongL. H.ColemanM.MapesD. (1990). A meta-analytic review of family structure stereotypes. Journal of Marriage and Family, 52(2), 287–297. doi:10.2307/353026
25.
GoubauD.ChabotM. (2018). Recomposition familiale et multiparentalité: Un exemple du difficile arrimage du droit à la famille contemporaine. Cahiers de droit, 59(4), 889–927. doi:10.7202/1055259ar
26.
GubernskayaZ. (2010). Changing attitudes toward marriage and children in six countries. Sociological Perspectives, 53(2), 179–200. doi:10.1525/sop.2010.53.2.179
27.
GuttmannJ.BroudoM. (1989). The effect of children’s family type on teachers’ stereotypes. Journal of Divorce, 12(2–3), 315–328. doi:10.1300/J279v12n02_18
28.
GuzzoK. B. (2016). Step families in the U.S. (Family Profiles) (FP-16-09). Bowling Green, OH: National Center for Family and Marriage Research, Bowling Green State University.
KatzS. (2015). Family law in America. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
31.
KinlawR. C.GatinsD.DunlapL. L. (2015). Differences in views of family life according to age, gender, and parental marital status. Journal of Divorce & Remarriage, 56(7), 517–534. doi:10.1080/10502556.2015.1080080
32.
KreiderR. M.EllisR. (2011). Living arrangements of children: 2009. Current Population Reports (P70-126). Washington, DC: United States Census Bureau.
Le BourdaisC.Lapierre-AdamcykÉ. (2008). Portrait des familles québécoises à l’horizon 2020. Esquisse des grandes tendances démographiques. PronovostDans G.BitaudeauC. Dumont et I. (Eds.), La famille à l’horizon de 2020 (pp. 71–99). Québec: Presses de l’Université du Québec.
35.
Le BourdaisC.Lapierre-AdamcykÉ.PacautP. (Collaborator). (2004). Changes in conjugal life in Canada—Is cohabitation progressively replacing marriage?Journal of Marriage and Family, 66(4), 929–942.
36.
LefaucheurN. (1987). Quand leur situation était inférieure à celle de l’orphelin ou le psychiatre, la marâtre et le délinquant juvénile. Dialogue, 97, 104–120.
37.
LefaucheurN. (1993). Sur la scène de l’anormalité familiale. In Meulders-KleinM. T.ThéryI. (Eds.), Les recompositions familiales aujourd’hui (pp. 123–136). Paris: Nathan.
38.
MannoniP. (2011). Les représentations sociales. Paris: Presses Universitaires de France.
39.
Marotz-BadenR.AdamsG. R.BuecheN.MunroB.MunroG. (1979). Family form or family process? Reconsidering the deficit family model approach. The Family Coordinator, 28(1), 5–14. doi:10.2307/583262
40.
MartinC. (1993). Le «risque solitude»: Divorces et vulnérabilité relationnelle. International Review of Community Development, 29, 69–83.
41.
McGartyC.YzerbytV. Y.SpearsR. (2002). Social, cultural and cognitive factors in stereotype information. In McGartyC.YzerbytV. Y.SpearsR. (Eds.), Stereotypes as explanations: The formation of meaningful beliefs about social groups. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
42.
MilanA. (2000). Les familles: 100 ans de continuité et de changement. Tendances sociales canadiennes, 56, 2–12.
43.
MuthénL. K.MuthénB. O. (2012). Mplus user’s guide (7th ed.). Los Angeles, CA: Muthén & Muthén.
44.
NoyD. (1991). Wicked stepmothers in Roman society and imagination. Journal of Family History, 16(4), 345–361. doi:10.1177/036319909101600402
PlanitzJ. M.FeeneyJ. A. (2009). Are stepsiblings bad, stepmothers wicked, and stepfathers evil? An assessment of Australian stepfamily stereotypes. Journal of Family Studies, 15(1), 82–97. doi:10.5172/jfs.327.15.1.82
47.
RoyA.BrodeurM.-J.GoubauD.GuilletS.LalondeC.LambertJ.Le BourdaisC.MadoreR.RobergeA.Saint-JacquesM.-C. (2015). Pour un droit de la famille adaptée aux nouvelles réalités conjugales et familiales. – Comité consultatif sur le droit de la famille (pp. 794). Montréal : Thémis.
48.
Saint-JacquesM.-C.ChamberlandC. (2000). Quand les parents refont leur vie. Regards adolescents sur la famille recomposée. Anthropologie et sociétés, 24(3), 115–131. https://doi.org/10.7202/015674ar
49.
Saint-JacquesM.-C. (2016). Plaidoyer pour une plus grande ouverture aux beaux-parents dans le Code civil du Québec. Intervention, 144, 99–108.
Statistique Canada. (2016). Portrait de la vie familiale des enfants au Canada en 2016 (Recensement en bref no. 98-200-X2016006 au catalogue). Ottawa: Statistique Canada.
52.
StewartS. D. (2007). Brave new stepfamilies: Diverse paths toward stepfamily living. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE Publications.
53.
SvenssonJ. (2014). Web panel surveys—A challenge for official statistics. Paper presented at the Statistics Canada Symposium 2014, Beyond Traditional Survey Taking: Adapting to a Changing World, Gatineau, Québec.
54.
TeachmanJ. (2008). Complex life course patterns and the risk of divorce in second marriages. Journal of Marriage and Family, 70(2), 294−305. doi:10.1111/j.1741-3737.2008.00 482.x
55.
TreasJ.LuiJ.GubernskayaZ. (2014). Attitudes on marriage and new relationships: Cross-national evidence on the deinstitutionalization of marriage. Demographic Research, 30(54), 1495–1526. doi:10.4054/DemRes.2014.30.54
56.
TroiloJ.ColemanM. (2008). College student perceptions of the content of father stereotypes. Journal of Marriage and Family, 70(1), 218–227.
57.
Valiquette-TessierS. C.VandetteM. P.GosselinJ. (2016). Is family structure a cue for stereotyping? A systematic review of stereotypes and parenthood. Journal of Family Studies, 22(2), 162–181. doi:10.1080/13229400.2015.1049955
58.
VézinaM. (2012). Enquête sociale générale de 2011: Aperçu des familles au Canada—Être parent dans une famille recomposée: un profil. Ottawa: Ministère de l’Industrie.
59.
WaldE. (1981). The remarried family: Challenge and promise. New York, NY: Family Service Association of America.
60.
WassofF.MartinC. (2005). Scottish Social Attitudes Survey 2004. Family Module Report. Edinburg: Scottish Government.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
