multiple attachments and the role of the father

Question 1

what percentage of infants form an attachment with the father by 18 months

Answer 1

75%

Question 2

what did Grossman (2022) study

Answer 2

longitudinal study looking at both parents behaviour and its relationship to the quality of childrens attchments

Question 3

what is the fathers role in attachment

Answer 3

to do with play and stimulation and less nurturing

Question 4

Grossman findings

Answer 4

found that the quality of mother-child attachment was important when assessing the quality of attachment into adolescence, but this was not the case for father-child attachment, suggesting the role of the father is less important.

Question 5

what did Field study?

Answer 5

filmed 4-month-old babies face to face interactions with primary cg mothers, secondary cg fathers and primary cg fathers.

Question 6

Field’s findings

Answer 6

found that fathers who were primary attachment figures acted in very similar ways to mothers who were primary attachment figures towards their children. This suggests that fathers are able, if required, to take on the more caring, nurturing role usually associated with the mother.

Question 7

one limitation of the role role of the father studies

Answer 7

P- Findings on the role of the father have been inconsistent
E- some studies showing fathers have a nurturing role, some suggesting they have a different role.
T- Therefore, it is hard to make a conclusion on what the role of the father is.

Question 8

another limitation of the roles of the father studies

Answer 8

P- Children without fathers aren’t any different.
E- MacCallum and Golombok (2004) found that children growing up in single-parent (or same-sex) families do not develop any differently from those who grow up in more ‘conventional’ families
T- suggesting that the role of the father is not significant in attachment.