Journal of Applied Psychological Research

Journal of Applied Psychological Research

Investigating the Consequences of Gender Role Shifts in the Family: Fuzzy Cognitive Maps

Document Type : Research Paper

Authors
1 Department of Psychology, Behavioral Sciences Research Institute, Faculty of Research Institute for Hawzah and University, Qom, Iran
2 Department of Psychology, Behavioral Sciences Research Institute, Faculty of Research Institute for Hawzah and University, Qom , Iran.
3 Department of Psychology, Behavioral Sciences Research Institute, Faculty of Research Institute for Hawzah and University, Qom, Iran.
Abstract
This study explores the application of Fuzzy Cognitive Maps (FCMs), which simulate human reasoning and decision-making processes, as a novel method for understanding the impact of gender role shifts within the family on other variables. FCMs were developed as follows: First, articles were reviewed to identify factors related to the research topic. Then, the most important aspects of gender role shifts in relation to the family were extracted, identifying fifteen key factors. Second, the initial model was presented to ten family psychologists who were tasked with refining it, if necessary, and establishing the connections between factors (i.e., the weight matrix); this matrix was then analyzed using R software. Gender role shift was identified as the most influential factor, impacting numerous other concepts and holding a central position in the network. Furthermore, "shift in family power structure" and "male loneliness" were identified as other influential variables in subsequent ranks. On the other hand, "negative impact on the child" was the most significantly impacted variable. This study provides a comprehensive understanding of causal relationships, illustrating the impacts of one variable on others, their strength, and the strongest nodes within the context of gender role shifts in the family.
Keywords


Articles in Press, Accepted Manuscript
Available Online from 24 August 2026

  • Receive Date 06 May 2025
  • Revise Date 28 September 2025
  • Accept Date 20 December 2025
  • First Publish Date 24 August 2026
  • Publish Date 24 August 2026