This study investigated fathers’ absence influences on the self-perceptions of South African young adults. Informants were five black university students (two females, three males; age range 20 to 28 years). They responded to semi-structured face-to-face interviews on self-perceptions from having matured in the absence of their biological fathers. Thematic analysis of the data revealed that the informants consider the father-absence when they grapple with material well-being shortage. Participants had mixed perceptions about the psychosocial effects on them from father-absence, with some believing to be thriving despite a history of father-absence. Overall, the findings suggest a need for caution in pathologising young adults with a history of father-absence as necessarily deprived.

这项研究调查了父亲的缺席对南非年轻人的自我认知的影响。被告是五名黑人大学生（两名女性，三名男性；年龄在20至28岁之间）。他们在没有亲生父亲的情况下已经成熟，因此对半结构化的面对面访谈进行了自我认知。对数据的主题分析表明，线人在解决物质福祉不足的问题时会考虑他们的父亲不在。参加者对父亲缺席对他们的社会心理影响的看法不一，尽管有父亲缺席的历史，但一些参与者仍认为自己正在蓬勃发展。总体而言，研究结果表明，在对有父亲缺席病史的年轻成年人进行病理检查时，必须谨慎行事。