The disagreeable mother-in-law stereotype seems to have some founding with 30% of Australian men admitting that they have to pretend to like theirs and 21% (more than one in five) confessing that they avoid their partners mother whenever they can. But it seems when it comes to the family we marry into, Father in laws are just as bad.

A survey of over 500 Australians commissioned to celebrate the launch of Meet the Fockers on DVD and Blu-ray ,discovered that a higher proportion of people have more trouble with their father in law than they do with their partner’s mother. 33% of men and 22% of women said that they had to fake their friendship with their father in law and nearly one in ten women (9%) said that they were intimidated by their husband’s father (more than twice than said the same thing about their mother in law).

The survey also asked respondents to identify who their perfect and worst nightmare in laws would be. Perhaps unsurprisingly Australia voted Charlie Sheen to be the worst potential father in law (though some 6% of male respondents also included him in their ideal list) by a substantial margin (32%) with Ozzie Osbourne and Prince Charles making up the top three candidates.

Richard Branson was voted most ideal father in law by both men and women closing out 23% of the vote. Rove made the top three spot for both women and men with Harrison Ford stealing the last spot for men and Clint Eastwood doing it for the ladies.

Oprah Winfrey’s visit to Australia clearly won her some fans because Australia voted her most ideal mother in law potential. Men also picked Maggie Beer and Michelle Pfeiffer whereas women chose Maggie Beer and Helen Mirren.

The title of Nightmare Mother In Law was secured by three politicians. Sarah Palin and Julia Gillard both made it into the top three but it was Pauline Hanson who walked away with the trophy.

The survey also asked participants who they thought was the most dysfunctional fictional family on the screen (big or small). The Simpsons took the most votes, followed closely by The Griffins from Family Guy and the Moodys from Californication. The Fockers beat out The Sopranos and the Gallaghers (Shameless) for the fourth spot but did not make the medals. Despite having two serial killers in the family the Morgans (Dexter) did not place.

Little Fockers is available on DVD and Blu-ray from Thursday 21st of April.