Role Of The Father Flashcards
What does Bowlby (1988) suggest about fathers?
Bowlby suggests that fathers can fill a role closely resembling that filled by a mother, but this is uncommon.
How do fathers typically engage with their children according to Bowlby?
A father is more likely to engage in physically active and novel play and is the child’s preferred play companion.
What did Schaffer & Emerson (1964) find about infant attachment?
The majority of babies attached to their mother first at around 7 months; fathers were first in only 3% of cases.
What percentage of infants formed an attachment to their father by 18 months?
In 75% of infants studied, by 18 months, they had formed an attachment to the father.
What did Field (1978) compare in his study?
Field compared the behaviours of primary caretaker mothers with primary and secondary caretaker fathers.
What was analyzed in Field’s (1978) study?
Face-to-face interactions were analyzed from video footage with infants at 4 months of age.
How did secondary caregiver fathers engage with infants?
Secondary caregiver fathers engaged more in game playing and held their infants less.
What behaviors did primary caretaker fathers exhibit?
Primary caretaker fathers engaged in significantly more smiling, imitative grimaces, and imitative vocalisations.
How do the behaviors of primary caretaker fathers compare to mothers?
These behaviors were comparable with mothers’ behavior.
What are the implications of these behaviors according to Isabella et al (1989)?
These behaviors are related to interactional synchrony and the formation of an emotional attachment.
What did Grossman’s (2002) longitudinal study focus on?
The study compared the role of fathers’ and mothers’ contributions to their children’s attachment experiences at ages 6, 10, and 16.
How is the quality of infant attachment with the mother related to adolescents?
Quality of infant attachment with the mother was related to children’s attachments in adolescence.
What did Grossman’s study suggest about fathers’ importance in long-term emotional development?
Fathers may be less important in long-term emotional development.
What was found about the quality of fathers’ play with infants?
The quality of fathers’ play with infants was related to the quality of adolescent attachments.
What role do fathers have in attachment according to Grossman’s findings?
Fathers have a different role in attachment, one that is more related to play and stimulation rather than emotional care.
What did Brown et al. (2012) investigate?
The study investigated father involvement, paternal sensitivity, and father-child attachment security at 13 months and 3 years.
What were the results of Brown et al. (2012) regarding father-child attachment security?
Involvement and sensitivity influenced father-child attachment security at age 3.
What was a greater predictor of secure attachment in Brown et al. (2012)?
Involvement was a greater predictor of secure attachment when fathers were rated as less sensitive.
What does Brown et al. (2012) indicate about caregiver gender in attachment types?
The gender of a caregiver is not crucial in predicting attachment types; rather, it is the extent of caregiver involvement.
What is a strength of using findings in parenting advice?
Research on the flexibility of the role of the father can be used to offer reassuring advice to parents. This means that parental anxiety about the role of fathers can be reduced and parenting decisions made easier.
What is a weakness related to different research questions about fathers?
Some researchers view the father as a secondary figure while others see fathers as primary figures. This leads to a lack of agreement on the role of the father.
What conflicting evidence exists regarding the role of fathers?
Grossmann et al (2002) suggests fathers have a distinct role in children’s development, while McCallum and Golombok (2004) found that children without a father do not develop differently. This means the question of whether fathers have a distinctive role remains unanswered.
What have studies found about children in different family structures?
It has been found that children growing up in single or same-sex parent families do not develop differently from those in two-parent heterosexual families. This means that findings may indicate a distinctive role for fathers when present, but families adapt to not having one.
