role of the father Flashcards
what is the distinctive role of fathers
a study has been conducted of 44 families comparing the role of the father to the role of the mother
fathers play style had seen to be more playful and fun compared to loving which tend to be the mothers
what are fathers as primary carers
mothers have traditionally been seen as more nurturing
however a study was conducted , observing primary fathers and secondary fathers
the evidence showed us that the primary fathers were as caring , smiling and holding their babies as their primary mothers
this shows that gender doesn’t matter and the fact that their primary/secondary parents matters
what’s real world application of role of the father
one strength of research into the role of the father is that it can be used to offer advice to parents
parents may worry about who is the better caregiver and mothers may be pressured to stay at home
research on role of the father can be used to reassure worrying parents
this means that parental anxiety can be reduced
fathers are just playmates
a weakness of the role of the father is that fathers are not caregivers they are playmates
research found that fathers play interactions were more exciting in comparison to a mothers
however mothers interactions were more affectionate and nurturing
suggests that role of the father is in fact as a playmate and not as a sensitive parents who responds to the needs of their children
these results also confirm that the mother takes on a nurturing
conflicting evidence
a limitation of research into the role of the father is that findings vary according to methodology
eg studied suggests that fathers are needed for a child’s growth
however that would mean that heterosexual families would grow up different compared to straight families
this means that the question as to whether fathers have a distinct role remains unanswered
confusion over research questions
one limitation of research into the role of father is lack of clarity over the question being asked
the question is more complicated than it sounds
however secondary and primary fathers act differently
however we later found out that fathers can take on a maternal role
this makes it difficult to offer a simple answer
