9. Role Of The Father Flashcards
Who often suggested that the mother was more involved in upbringing and why?
Bowlby assumed this due to stereotypes
What shift in the expected role of the father has occurred?
Western cultures now expected to integrate father more
Why have fathers become more involved in upbringing recently?
Mothers are more likely to undertake full time jobs so responsibilities are shared more with the father
What role do mothers & fathers stereotypically play?
Mother as caregiver, father as playmate
What behaviours are fathers more likely to encourage?
Risk-taking and physical games
What did Lamb (1987) discover about when mother/father interactions are sought?
Contact with the father is preferred when the child is in a positive emotional state, whilst they seek comfort with their mother when distressed
What is the cultural stereotype of fathers?
Expected to provide for the family with no direct involvement in child’s care
What are fathers involved in?
Play, instruction and guidance
How did social policies implicitly give caregiver roles to the mother?
Until 2006, only maternity leave (not paternity leave) was given
How did a lack of paternity leave affect the involvement of the father?
They are not able to show caregiver-infant interactions as much as they will be working
What biological factors did Heerman et. Al find that may influence care roles?
Men lack sensitive responsiveness, as only women produce oestrogen when induces a want to care for the child
What did Frodi et al find t contradict the role of biological factors in attachment?
Found the same physiological response was produced by the mother and father
Who did Freedman et. Al (2010) suggest was more likely to attach to their father and when?
Male children in late childhood (rather than as infants or young adults)
How did Manlove et. Al suggest temperament of the child affected the involvement of the father?
Fathers are less likely to get involved with children with difficult temperaments
Who does attachment research mainly focuses on?
The mother-infant bond
What did Schaffer and Emerson discover abut primary caregivers?
Most children had heir mothers as primary caregivers, whilst 75% showed a secondary attachment to their father within 18 months
How did Grossman suggest fathers’ behaviour influenced development?
Only mother’s attachment influenced later relationships (Play & stimulation from father linked to later relationships)
Describe Field’s (1978) research into primary caregivers
- Filmed caregiver-infant interactions in 4-month-olds
- Mother and father primary caregivers showed more interaction than secondary caregivers
- Suggests sensitive responsiveness depends on who is primary caregiver not gender
Who found marital intimacy and co-parenting influenced security of father attachments?
Brown (2010)
What did Lucassen find?
More secure attachment in fathers who show sensitive responsiveness
Which factors may affect the role of the father?
Culture, age, work
Why does the existence of other factors affect the external validity of research into the role of the father?
Relationships vary so difficult to generalise
What biological support is there for women’s natural caregiver behaviour?
Women have oestrogen -which induces caring behaviour- and men don’t
Who provided counter-evidence for biological factors?
- Frodi et. Al: same physiological response regardless of gender
- Field: fathers could provide same sensitive respnsiveness so not gender specific
Why may research into the role of the father be socially sensitive?
Research suggests mother as primary caregiver leads to healthy development, so working mothers pressured to stay home and primary caregiver fathers feel inadequate
Give an example of contradictory evidence in the role of the father
McCallum & Golombol found same-sex family children developed no differently than mother-father families, while Grossman found that only mothers impact later relationships
What des contradictory evidence mean for our understanding of the role of the father?
No single answer to what the role of the father is, so there is still a lack of understanding
Who found mothers are most often primary attachments?
Schaffer and Emerson found mother primary & father often secondary
Why might Schaffer and Emerson have found the mother is often the primary caregiver?
Traditional roles or biological factors give predispose the mother as the primary attachment
What evidence is there that fathers do infants affect the child’s later temperament? Who’s research does this contradict?
- Found that those with secure father attachments had better social relationships an more emotional control
- Lack of father may lead t higher risk taking behaviour an aggression ( especially in boys)
Contradicts Grossman
