role of the father

Question 1

role of the father

Answer 1

• fathers are much less likely to become a babies first attachment figure compared to mothers

Question 2

schaffer + emerson

Answer 2

found that babies became attached to their mothers at around 7 months
only 3% of cases the father was the sole attachment, in 27% of cases the father was the joint object of attachment with the mother

• however, appears that most fathers go on to become important attachment figures
  75% of the babies formed an attachment with their father by the age of 18 months
• this was determined by the fact that the babies protested when their father walked away - a sign of attachment

Question 3

grossmann et al

Answer 3

• longitudinal study
• where babies were studied until they were into their teens, the researchers looked at both parents behaviour and its relationship to the quality of the babies later attachment to other people
• the quality of a babys attachment with mothers, but not fathers was related to attachments in adolescence
• fathers are less important
• however, argues that fathers have a different role, one more to do with play and stimulation rather than emotional development

Question 4

limtiation: other influences

Answer 4

• numeruous influences which might impact a fathers development
• culture, fathers beliefs and age, amount of time spent away from home ect.
• difficult to control all these varibles, so is difficult to draw conclusions about the role of the father

Question 5

strength: real-world application

Answer 5

• used to offer advice to parents
• parents/prospectives agonise over decisions like who should take on the primary caregiver role, worrying about having children at all
• mothers may feel pressured to stay home and fathers might be pressured to focus on work (sterotypes)
• this may not be the best economical solution for some families, this research can be used to offer reassuring advice for parents
• heterosexual coupls can be reassured that fathers are capable of becoming attachment figures
• single mothers can be informed that not having a father does not affect a childs development