Attachment: The Role of the Father Flashcards
what did Schaffer + Emerson find about the role of the father?
75% of the infants formed a secondary attachment to their father by the age of 18 months, with 29% doing so within a month of forming primary attachment, demonstrated by seperation anxiety. this shows the father is important but unlikely to be the primary attachment.
what did Field find about the role of the father?
she observed interactions between infants and their primary caregiver and found that primary caregivers, regardless of gender, were more attentive and spent more time holding and smiling at them. this suggests primary caregivers aren’t always the mother.
what’s the lack of agreement over influence of the father? (A03)
MacCallum + Golombok demonstrated that growing up in homo-sexual or single-parent families were not different compared to children with 2 heterosexual parents. if the father is so crucial in the development of an infant’s attachment, these would not be the findings. this suggests we are still unsure on the role of the father.
how are roles of primary caregiver dictated by society? (A03)
women are expected to be caring and sensitive and biologically women have higher levels of oestrogen and lower levels of testotrone compared to men. this suggests there are social and biological constraints on who the primary caregiver is.
how is research into the importance of primary caregiver socially sensitive? (A03)
abnormalities in development are often blamed on the parents. this means that a single father or mother may be pressured to return to work at a later point in order to increase the likelihood that their child will form a secure attachment.
