Attachment: Multiple attachments and the role of the father

Question 1

what are 3 mediating factors which relate to type of attachment a father has with his children?

Answer 1

Interaction - how much the father engages with the child;
Accessibility - how physically and emotionally accessible he is;
Responsibility - the extent to which he takes on ‘caretaking’ tasks

Question 2

Which Researcher?

Fathers’ play interactions are more exciting and pleasurable than mothers’, whilst mothers are more nurturing and affectionate

Answer 2

Geiger (1996)

Question 3

Which Researcher?

Fathers were less able than mothers to detect low levels of infants’ distress

Answer 3

Hrdy (1997)

Question 4

Which Researcher?
. Fathers who became main caregivers quickly developed more sensitivity to children’s needs. This suggests that sensitive responsiveness is not biologically limited to women.

Answer 4

Lamb (1987)

Question 5

Which Researcher?

Found no differences in the physiological responses of men and women

Answer 5

Frodi et al (1978)

Question 6

Which Researcher?

In 75% of the infants studied an attachment was formed with the father by the age of 18 months.

Answer 6

Schaffer + Emerson (1964)

Question 7

Evidence for role of the father in attachment:

Hrdy

Answer 7

Hrdy suggest that fathers are less able than mothers to detect low levels of infant distress which suggests males as less suitable as primary caregivers

Question 8

Evidence for role of the father in attachment:

Lamb

Answer 8

found that fathers who became the primary caregivers quickly develop more sensitivity to children’s needs which suggests that sensitive responsiveness is not a biological ability limited to women

Question 9

Evidence for role of the father in attachment:
Frodi

Answer 9

showed videotapes of infants crying and found no difference in the physiological responses of men and women, suggesting that biological factors may not explain the gender differences in attachment relationships between parents and infants

Question 10

Evaluation for multiple attachments and the role of father: evidence

Answer 10

There is research support for the idea that fathers play a complementary role to mothers in parenting. For example… (Geiger!)

Within this study, they… showed that fathers play interactions are more exciting and pleasurable than mothers while mothers are more nurturing and affectionate= supports idea of fathers being playmates rather than caregivers, complementing the mother role in the child development

This finding supports the importance of the role of fathers because it suggests… they have a valid and important role to play in the development of their kids
Therefore, this research provides credibility to the theory that the role of the father is equally important to the role of the mothers, having important practical applications when it comes to fraternal rights.

Question 11

Evaluation for multiple attachments and the role of father
socially sensitive

Answer 11

However, the conclusions of research into the role of fathers is often socially sensitive.
For example, the findings of Geiger’s research suggests that it is important for children to have both a father and mother figure in order to develop fully.

considering that up to 42% of uk marriages end in divorce and the rise of both single parents and same sex parents - prescribing an ideal family set up for growing children is unwise and could be seen as discriminatory

This implies that researchers must be careful drawing conclusions from the research into the role of fathers and be careful not to overly generalise their findings, but to acknowledge when there are individual differences.

Question 12

Evaluation for multiple attachments and the role of father

practical applications

Answer 12

The findings of research into the role of fathers can be seen to have useful practical applications in terms of recognizing the importance of fathers in parenting and giving support to legal changes that allow them to be more present in their children’s lives. For example…. only since 2002 has both the UK and US granted paternity leave- and only 2016 in ireland. Some scandinavian countries like sweden and norway go much further with rights for new fathers. Psychological research has endorsed these changes to the law

This suggests that psychological research has potentially benefitted families.

Question 13

Evaluation for multiple attachments and the role of father

ethnocentric

Answer 13

The research into the role of fathers can be considered to be ethnocentric. This is because most of the research has taken place in individualistic cultures where stereotypical gender roles in terms of parenting may differ from the traditional roles in more collectivist cultures. This implies that findings like Geiger’s about the different roles of fathers and mothers, may not be applicable to other cultures.