The Psychology of Fatherhood

Father's Day salutes the world's great dads, but it takes science to explain why some aren't so great

Barbara Peacock / Corbis

A father and son wade into a lake. Fathers Day salutes the world's greatest dads, but it takes science to explain why some aren't so great.

The folks at Hallmark are going to have a very good day on June 17. That's when more than 100 million of the company's ubiquitous cards will be given to the 66 million dads across the U.S. in observation of Father's Day. Such a blizzard of paper may be short of the more than 150 million cards sold for Mother's Day, but it's still quite a tribute. What's less clear is whether dads--at least as a group--have done a good enough job to deserve the honor.

Worldwide, 10% to 40% of children grow up in households with no father at all....

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