Attachment - Role Of The Father Flashcards
What did Schaffer & Emmerson find about the role of the father?
-although infants attach to their mothers first, after a few weeks they will form multiple attachments including to their father
Who conducted research into the role of the father?
Grossman (2002)
What method did Grossman use?
Longitudinal study
What was the aim of Grossman’s research?
-looked at both parents behaviour and its relationship to the quality of children’s attachment in their teens
What was Grossman’s first finding?
-the quality of infants attachment with their mothers (but not their fathers) was related to the child’s attachment in adolescence
What was the conclusion of Grossman’s first finding?
-suggests the fathers attachment is less important than mothers
What was Grossman’s second finding?
-the quality of fathers play with infants was related to the quality of the children’s adolescent attachment
What was the conclusion of Grossman’s second finding?
-fathers have a different role in attachment- one that is more to do with play and stimulation, and less to do with nurturing but is still important for the child’s wellbeing
What is a way to remember Grossman’s findings?
Grossman = good times (play)
Who conducted research to contradict Grossman?
Field (1978)
What was the aim of Fields research?
-to investigate the role of the father in attachment
What method did Field use?
Controlled observation
What was Fields procedure?
-he filmed 4 month old infants in face to face interactions with their primary caregiver mothers, primary caregiver fathers, and secondary caregiver fathers
What were the findings of Field’s research?
-primary caregiver fathers, like mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than the secondary caregiver fathers
-this behaviour seems to be important in building an attachment to an infant
What was the conclusion of Field’s research?
-fathers can be the more nurturing attachment figure and take on a traditionally maternal role
-the key to an attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness not the gender if the parent
What is a way to remember Fieldman’s findings?
Field: fathers can be the first caregiver
Evaluate research into the role of the father
-practical applications
-macallum & golombok- children with single mothers do not develop any differently than those with a father
-COUNTERPOINT: -single mothers may simply adapt to accommodate the role of the father
-biological basis (criticism)
Explain how Fields research may have practical applications
-prac apps
-responsiveness to the child’s needs is the most important, not gender
-shared parental leave allows mothers and fathers to share leave from work to care for their child in the first year of their life or if the father wants to be the primary CG
-important part if applied psych so increases the credibility
Explain how Macallum & Golombok contradict Grossman’s research into the role of the father
-Grossman suggested that fathers had an important role in the child’s development of play and stimulation
-Macallum & Golombok showed children growing up in single mother or lesbian parent families don’t develop differently from those in 2 parent heterosexual households
-so the fathers role may not be solely related to the gender of the attachment figure
Give a counterpoint for Macallum & Golomboks research
-could be argued that parents in single mother or lesbian parent families simply adapt to accommodate the role played by fathers
-suggests when father is present they adopt a distinctive role but families can adapt to not having a present father
Explain how there may be a biological basis to support Grossman’s findings
-biological basis that darters may adopt a secondary CG role
-female hormones (oestrogen) create higher levels of nurturing so women are biologically be the primary attachment CG
-whereas males produce more testosterone which isn’t associated with care and nurture so their role is less important than the mothers like Grossman suggests
-several explanations to consider when investigating the role of the father
