attachment- role of the father

Question 1

primary attachment- role of the father

Answer 1

-schaffer and Emerson (1964) found that the majority of babies became attached to their mother first (around 7 months).
-only 3% of cases father was the primary attachment.
-in 27% of cases the father was the joint first with the mother
-primary attachment usually mother but sometimes both

Question 2

secondary attachments with father

Answer 2

-in 75% of babies studied an attachment was formed with the father by 18 months of age
-indicated by babies protesting as father walked away- sign of attachment

Question 3

distinctive role for father

Answer 3

Grossmann et al. (2002)
-longitudinal study
-looked at parents’ behaviour and its relationship to the quality of children’s attachments into their teens
-found that quality of attachment with father was less important for adolescent attachment than with the mother.
-so fathers may be less important in long-term emotional development
-also found that the quality of fathers’ play with babies was related to quality of adolescent attachments
-suggests fathers have a different role in attachment, more to do with play and stimulation

Question 4

Fathers can be primary attachment figures

Answer 4

-some evidence suggests that when fathers do take on the role of being the main caregiver they adopt behaviours more typical of mothers
-Field (1978) filmed 4-month-old babies and found that primary caregiver fathers, like mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding babies than secondary caregiver fathers.
-these behaviours are related to interactional synchrony and the formation of an emotional attachment (Isabella et al. 1989).

Question 5

Level of response is most important

Answer 5

-smiling, imitating and holding babies (interactional synchrony) are behaviours that are important in building a primary (emotional) attachment with a baby.
-so it seems the father can be the more ‘emotional’ attachment figure.
-key to the attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness not gender of parent.

Question 6

ao3 role of father: confusion over research questions

Answer 6

-some psychologists want to understand role of father as secondary attach figures. but others more concerned with them as primary figures
-former have tended to see fathers as behaving differently from mother and having distinct role. latter have found father can take on ‘maternal’ role
-means psychologists cannot easily answer simple question what is the role of the father?

Question 7

ao3 role of father: conflicting evidence from different methodologies

Answer 7

-grossman et al (2002) suggests fathers have distinct role in children’s development involving play and stimulation
-but, McCallum and Golombok (2004) found children w/o father don’t develop differently
-means question of whether fathers have a distinct role remains unanswered

Question 8

ao3 role of father: CA to different methodologies

Answer 8

-findings may not be in conflict
-fathers may typically take on particular roles in two-parent heterosexual families.
-other family structures adapt to not having fathers.
-means findings may be clear after all- may be a distinctive role for fathers when present, but families adapt to not having one.

Question 9

ao3 role of father: findings in parenting advice

Answer 9

-mothers may feel pressured to stay home and fathers focus on work. may not be best solution for all families
-research on flexibility of fathers role can be used to offer reassuring advice to parents
-parental anxiety ab role of fathers can be reduced and parenting decisions made easier