the role of the father Flashcards
attachment
What is the contribution and importance of fathers?
Schaffer and Emerson- 29% of infants formed multiple attachments by 10/11 months- fathers fell in this category
Further research- 1/3 infants preferred their father to their mother
The father may not be the primary attachment but they are just as important
Whats a strength of the importance of the role of fathers?
Rohner and Veneziano- research into attachment to fathers- ‘fathers love’ and ‘mothers love’ were equally important
the importance of fathers has been lost in American gender roles
‘fathers love’ is important for a number of things e.g. social competence or academic achievement
What’s the difference between the fathers role and the mothers?
Both contribute to the child’s development. Fathers attachment doesn’t replace or replicate the mothers, they are a complementary relationship where the father and mother offer different things to the child
What is a strength of the difference between the fathers role and the mothers?
Geiger- research into the different roles of mothers and fathers during infant development
mother- more nurturing
father- more playful
Both are equally as important for slightly different things
What is the fathers link to social skills?
Fathers can contribute to important social skills for adult relationships- Gottman and Katz- involved fathers had children who were more popular, less aggressive and had higher quality friendships
What is a limitation of the fathers link to social skills?
The father needs to be a ‘good parent’ not just present
Verissimo et al- positive correlation between the quality of the father relationship and the number of friends
Needs to be high-quality for the social skills to develop
What is the research about absent fathers?
Children in lesbian headed families are in no way disadvantaged
Gottman- compared adult daughters of both lesbian and heterosexual parents- no significant differences in social adjustment, sexual orientation or gender identity
What is a strength of the research of absent fathers?
Golombok et al- comparing single mother, lesbian and heterosexual households
the best predictor of ‘successful development’ was the quality of relationships- as long as the child has a high-quality relationship with someone, they won’t suffer in later life
