3. ATTACHMENT (The role of the father) Flashcards
How does the role of the father compare to the role of the mother in attachment?
The role of the father is typically different from the mother’s, with fathers often being more involved in play and stimulation, while mothers are usually more nurturing and affectionate. Fathers’ involvement in caregiving, however, can still lead to strong attachment bonds.
What did Schaffer and Emerson (1964) find regarding the father’s role in attachment?
Schaffer and Emerson found that 65% of infants formed their first attachment with their mother, 3% with their father, and 27% formed joint first attachments with both parents. By 18 months, 75% of infants had formed an attachment with their father.
What is the evolutionary perspective on the role of fathers in attachment?
From an evolutionary perspective, women are often seen as the primary caregivers due to higher levels of oestrogen and oxytocin, hormones that increase emotional responses and bonding during activities like breastfeeding. This may explain why mothers typically take on the primary attachment role.
What did Grossman’s study (2002) suggest about the father’s role in attachment?
Grossman (2002) found that the quality of the father’s attachment was less important for teenagers’ attachment type than the quality of attachment with the mother. However, the father’s play with infants was found to be linked to better attachment outcomes, suggesting fathers play a significant role in stimulating and playing with their children.
What did Geiger (1996) find about father-infant interactions?
Geiger (1996) found that father’s play interactions tend to be more boisterous and rough-and-tumble, making them more exciting and pleasurable. In contrast, mothers’ play was more nurturing and affectionate.
What did Field’s research (1978) suggest about the father’s role in attachment when they are the primary caregiver?
Field (1978) found that when fathers are the primary caregivers, they engage in more sensitive interactions (e.g., smiling, imitating, holding infants) than fathers in secondary caregiving roles, indicating that sensitive responsiveness is key to attachment, not the gender of the parent.
What did Lamb’s (1997) research reveal about children’s preferences for fathers versus mothers?
Lamb (1997) found that children prefer to interact with fathers when they are in a positive emotional state, but seek comfort from their mothers when they are distressed, indicating different roles for mothers and fathers in emotional support.
How does the level of involvement affect father-child attachment, according to Brown et al. (2012)?
Brown et al. (2012) found that father involvement and paternal sensitivity influenced father-child attachment security, particularly at 3 years of age, emphasizing that the extent of caregiver involvement is more important than the caregiver’s gender.
What is a strength of research into the role of the father in attachment?
A strength is that it has led to practical applications, such as encouraging male partner involvement in antenatal classes and the birthing process, which improves the quality of attachment and contributes to better social and emotional development for children.
What is a limitation of research into the role of the father regarding observer bias?
A limitation is that social biases about fathers (e.g., they are more playful, stricter) may lead to observer bias, where researchers unintentionally record behaviours that align with stereotypes, reducing the internal validity of the findings.
What is the advantage of longitudinal research in studying the role of fathers in attachment?
Grossman’s longitudinal research followed families over 10 years and avoided the confounding variable of individual differences that might arise from studying children of varying ages. This provides high internal validity and strengthens the findings about the father’s role.
What is a limitation of Schaffer and Emerson’s study regarding population validity?
Schaffer and Emerson’s study had low population validity as it was based on babies from working-class families in Glasgow, meaning the findings may not apply to babies from other social or cultural backgrounds, reducing the generalizability of the results.
How might Grossman’s study (2002) be considered socially sensitive?
Grossman’s suggestion that the mother’s role is more related to nurturing while the father’s role is more about play could be distressing for families who do not conform to traditional family structures, potentially making some individuals feel that their upbringing was inadequate.
What does the research say about the importance of gender in attachment?
Research suggests that gender is not crucial in determining attachment quality. What matters most is the level of caregiver involvement and sensitive responsiveness, regardless of whether the caregiver is the mother or father.
How does the father’s involvement in childrearing affect attachment outcomes?
Increased father involvement (e.g., through caregiving activities and sensitive responsiveness) is linked to stronger father-child attachments and better developmental outcomes, highlighting the importance of an involved father in the child’s emotional and social development.
