The Role of the Father Flashcards
Who found that infants become attached to their mothers first?
Emerson (1964)
At what age do infants first become attached to their mothers?
Around the age of 7 months
When do infants gain attachment to other family members such as the father
After 7 months
What did studies show about the attachment to the father?
It occurs by the age of 18 months
How was attachment to the father determined?
Determined when infants protested when their father walked away (separation anxiety)
What did Grossman (2002) find?
Quality of fathers play with their young children correlates with quality of adolescent attachments
What does Grossmans Study suggest?
Fathers have a different role in attachment (more to do with play and stimulation)
What did Field (1978) find?
He found that primary caregiver fathers spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants compared to secondary caregiver fathers
How are the behaviors shown in Fields study important?
These behaviors are crucial to developing a reciprocal attachment bond.
What does Fields study suggest?
Key to attachment is is the level of sensitivity and responsiveness of the parent rather than the gender
What does Fields study show?
That fathers can fulfill the nurturing role of primary caregiver if mother is absent
What did Varissmo (2011) find?
Quality of father-toddler relationship significantly correlated with the number of friends at preschool
What did Varissmo find out about a mother-toddler relationship?
That there is no correlation between the mother-toddler relationship and number of preschool friends
What does Varissmo study suggest?
Father promote social skills as they act as a playmate themselves
