The impact of the father-daughter dyad on female sexuality, self-concept, and interpersonal relationships with men

The purpose of this dissertation was to explore the impact of the father-daughter relationship on women's self-concept, sexual behavior, and interpersonal relationships with men. This study examined how a woman's father can influence the choices and decisions she makes as an adult.;The primary source of data collection was from semi-structured interviews with five participants lasting approximately one and a half hours. The interview questions were composed by the researcher to guide the interview in order to obtain specific information about the research questions. The interviews were audio recorded and transcribed. Data were coded from transcripts based on a qualitative method of coding. The researcher utilized a phenomenological perspective in conducting a formal analysis of the data. This empirical approach sought to identify and explore the participant's self-reported accounts of their experiences with their fathers. The researcher also aimed to identify the effects of these experiences on sexuality, self-concept, and interpersonal relationships with men.;Results of this study found that the impact of the father-daughter relationship significantly impacted the participant's sexuality, self-concept, and relationships with men. Of the five participants, four reported highly negative relationships with their fathers, which contributed to problems in adulthood in relation to self-concept, sexuality, and romantic relationships with men. Fathering styles were shown to affect the participants' self-concept and sexual behaviors in adolescence and adulthood. Four out of the five fathers had guidelines for dating; however, this appeared to have little impact on early sexual activity. Results indicated that the participants' self-concepts influenced mate selection and interpersonal relationships with men in adolescence and adulthood. The findings suggested that women are impacted by their relationships with their fathers to varying degrees in terms of their sexuality, self-concept, and interpersonal relationships with men.