9. Role Of The Father

Question 1

Who often suggested that the mother was more involved in upbringing and why?

Answer 1

Bowlby assumed this due to stereotypes

Question 2

What shift in the expected role of the father has occurred?

Answer 2

Western cultures now expected to integrate father more

Question 3

Why have fathers become more involved in upbringing recently?

Answer 3

Mothers are more likely to undertake full time jobs so responsibilities are shared more with the father

Question 4

What role do mothers & fathers stereotypically play?

Answer 4

Mother as caregiver, father as playmate

Question 5

What behaviours are fathers more likely to encourage?

Answer 5

Risk-taking and physical games

Question 6

What did Lamb (1987) discover about when mother/father interactions are sought?

Answer 6

Contact with the father is preferred when the child is in a positive emotional state, whilst they seek comfort with their mother when distressed

Question 7

What is the cultural stereotype of fathers?

Answer 7

Expected to provide for the family with no direct involvement in child’s care

Question 8

What are fathers involved in?

Answer 8

Play, instruction and guidance

Question 9

How did social policies implicitly give caregiver roles to the mother?

Answer 9

Until 2006, only maternity leave (not paternity leave) was given

Question 10

How did a lack of paternity leave affect the involvement of the father?

Answer 10

They are not able to show caregiver-infant interactions as much as they will be working

Question 11

What biological factors did Heerman et. Al find that may influence care roles?

Answer 11

Men lack sensitive responsiveness, as only women produce oestrogen when induces a want to care for the child

Question 12

What did Frodi et al find t contradict the role of biological factors in attachment?

Answer 12

Found the same physiological response was produced by the mother and father

Question 13

Who did Freedman et. Al (2010) suggest was more likely to attach to their father and when?

Answer 13

Male children in late childhood (rather than as infants or young adults)

Question 14

How did Manlove et. Al suggest temperament of the child affected the involvement of the father?

Answer 14

Fathers are less likely to get involved with children with difficult temperaments

Question 15

Who does attachment research mainly focuses on?

Answer 15

The mother-infant bond

Question 16

What did Schaffer and Emerson discover abut primary caregivers?

Answer 16

Most children had heir mothers as primary caregivers, whilst 75% showed a secondary attachment to their father within 18 months

Question 17

How did Grossman suggest fathers’ behaviour influenced development?

Answer 17

Only mother’s attachment influenced later relationships (Play & stimulation from father linked to later relationships)

Question 18

Describe Field’s (1978) research into primary caregivers

Answer 18

• 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

Question 19

Who found marital intimacy and co-parenting influenced security of father attachments?

Answer 19

Brown (2010)

Question 20

What did Lucassen find?

Answer 20

More secure attachment in fathers who show sensitive responsiveness

Question 21

Which factors may affect the role of the father?

Answer 21

Culture, age, work

Question 22

Why does the existence of other factors affect the external validity of research into the role of the father?

Answer 22

Relationships vary so difficult to generalise

Question 23

What biological support is there for women’s natural caregiver behaviour?

Answer 23

Women have oestrogen -which induces caring behaviour- and men don’t

Question 24

Who provided counter-evidence for biological factors?

Answer 24

• Frodi et. Al: same physiological response regardless of gender
• Field: fathers could provide same sensitive respnsiveness so not gender specific

Question 25

Why may research into the role of the father be socially sensitive?

Answer 25

Research suggests mother as primary caregiver leads to healthy development, so working mothers pressured to stay home and primary caregiver fathers feel inadequate

Question 26

Give an example of contradictory evidence in the role of the father

Answer 26

McCallum & Golombol found same-sex family children developed no differently than mother-father families, while Grossman found that only mothers impact later relationships

Question 27

What des contradictory evidence mean for our understanding of the role of the father?

Answer 27

No single answer to what the role of the father is, so there is still a lack of understanding

Question 28

Who found mothers are most often primary attachments?

Answer 28

Schaffer and Emerson found mother primary & father often secondary

Question 29

Why might Schaffer and Emerson have found the mother is often the primary caregiver?

Answer 29

Traditional roles or biological factors give predispose the mother as the primary attachment

Question 30

What evidence is there that fathers do infants affect the child’s later temperament? Who’s research does this contradict?

Answer 30

• 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