Attachment - The Role of the Father Flashcards
From Schaffer and Emerson’s study, what percentage of fathers were the primary attachment figure?
3%
Expectation of fathers in modern western culture?
That father should play greater role in brining up children
Why do father have a more active role in modern society?
Because the number of mothers working full time has increased in recent decades
Who’s study in 2002 was a key piece of research into the role of the father?
Grossman
What did Grossman conduct and what did he look at?
A longitudinal study looking at both parent’s behaviours and the relationship this has to the quality of attachments
What was the quality of infant attachments with mothers related to according to Grossman?
Children’s attachment in adolescence
What was the quality of the fathers play with infants related to according to Grossman?
Their attachments in adolescence
How do fathers have a different role in attachments according to Grossman?
Fathers = play
Mothers = nurturing
In what country was a key piece of research conducted?
Israel
According to the Israel study, what makes women better at parenting than men?
There is nothing inherent about women that makes them ‘better’ at parenting
How come primary caregivers are more responsive to emotional cues of children?
Because they develop neural pathways in their exhausted brains which make this happen
What did the Israel study find about neural pathways in fathers and mothers?
The same neural pathways developed in fathers who were primary caregivers as in mothers
According to evidence, when do men adopt behaviours more typical of mothers?
When they take on the role of being the primary caregiver
Who provided research support for the role of fathers? When?
Field in 1978
Field’s method
Filmed 4 month old babies in face to face interactions with primary caregiver mothers, primary caregiver fathers and secondary caregiver fathers
What did Field find about primary caregiver fathers in comparison to secondary caregiver fathers?
Primary caregiver fathers spent more time smiling, imitating and holding the infant than secondary caregiver fathers
What can you conclude from Field’s research support for the role of fathers?
The key to attachment relationships is the level of responsiveness NOT the gender of the parent
Why is the role of fathers hard to generalise?
Because numerous factors affect the fathers roles and the impact of it
What are the economic implications of the role of fathers?
Mothers will feel pressured to stay home because research says they are vital for healthy child development - means they can’t be at work earning money to provide for family
What did McCallum and Golombok find about children growing up in single / same sex families?
They didn’t develop different to kids growing up under two parents
How has this had impacts of social policy?
Paid paternity leave introduced in 2002 in UK which has impacts on ECONOMY
What are the stereotypical views of men?
They should be breadwinner
How do cultural differences go against Gossman’s research?
Fathers in M/C Indian families less likely to engage in play than mothers
