Multiple Attachments & The Role of the Father

Question 1

What is role of the mother?

Answer 1

-Life begins with the mother so she is likely to be the primary caregiver
-Mothers and infants have innate, bio likeliness to form strong relationships

Question 2

What are multiple attachments?

Answer 2

-In Schaffer and Emerson’s 1964 study, at 18 months old, 31% of babies had 5+ attachments
-To siblings, fathers, grandPs etc.
-Fathers were 1st JOINT attachment in 1/3 of infants in the study
-Research suggests fathers attachment is important in its own right

Question 3

What is the role of the father?

Answer 3

-Fathers are 2ndry attachment
-More of a playmate
-Still care for child just not the same as the mother
-Physically active, provide challenging, risky situations
-Encouraging
-Mothers are more conventional

Question 4

What is paternal sensitivity?

Answer 4

-Idea that males can quickly develop caring roles and senses for the child should they become the immediate care giver
-Research focuses on the role of the father and the amount of time the father spends with the infant
-Quality is worth more than quantity especially for paternal sensitivity

Question 5

What are the factors in paternal sensitivity?

Answer 5

-Degree of sensitivity = fathers who show more sensitivity have more secure attachments
-Types of attachment with own parents = fathers tend to form attachments similar to the ones they had with their parents
-Marital intimacy = degree of intimacy with spouse affects the way they attach to their child
-Supportive co-parenting = amount of support parents give each other affects the attachment formed

Question 6

What are 2 strengths?

Answer 6

Paternal sensitivity can be learned.
-When fathers become main caregiver, they adopt behaviours more commonly seen in mothers

-Study filmed 4 month old babies in F2F interactions with primary caregivers, either mothers or fathers
-Like the mothers, fathers spent more time involving in interactional synchrony and reciprocity which are vital for attachment
This demonstrates that fathers can become more nurturing and that the level of attachment is based on level of responsiveness not gender

Quality of fathers play is important in paternal attachment
-A study looked at the mother and fathers behaviour in the child’s infancy
-The quality of attachment between MOTHER and INFANT relied on the quantity of interactions between the 2
-The same correlation was not found suggesting the fathers attachment was not as important
-However, the fathers role is still important
This suggests the fathers attachment is separate and has its own role for the upbringing of the child.

Question 7

What are 2 weaknesses?

Answer 7

Inconsistent findings
-Differences in questioning into the role of the father
-Some want to understand the role of the father as the 2ndry attachment and some want to understand the father as the primary attachment
-Former see the fathers roles as different and the latter see the roles as being maternal
This is a problem as there is no clear hypothesis and therefore no clear answer to the question of the role of the father refuting this idea.

If fathers have own roles, why aren’t fatherless kids any different?
-studies have found that children that grow up with the same sex parents or single parentedly do not develop any differently
-Despite the fathers apparently having specific roles
These findings refute the idea of specific roles of the father or that their attachment makes any difference on a kids upbringing.