Role father Flashcards
(14 cards)
What is the role of the father in attachment
Play
Level of responsiveness
Between 6-8 months what % of babies formed the first attachments with their father
3%
Outline Grossman’s research into the Fathers role in ‘play’
carried out a longitudinal study looking at both parents’ behaviour, and its relationship to the quality of children’s attachments into their teens.
Found that quality of attachment with the father was less important in the attachment type of the teenagers, than the quality of attachment with the mother.
However, the quality of the father’s play with infants was related to children’s attachments. Suggests that fathers have a different role in attachment, one more to do with play and stimulation and less to do with nurturing
Outline Geiger’s research into the Fathers role in ‘play’
found that father’s play interactions were more boisterous than with their mums, more rough and tumble play.
It was more exciting and pleasurable but that play with mothers was more nurturing and affectionate
Both have an important role to play in the development of the child
Outline Field’s research into the Fathers role in level of responsiveness
found that when fathers are the primary caregiver, they are found to spend more time smiling, imitating, and holding infants than secondary caregiver fathers.
Hence, the key to the attachment relationship is the level of sensitive responsiveness and not the gender of the parent.
Outline Lamb’s research into the Fathers role in level of responsiveness
Found children prefer interacting with fathers when they are in a positive emotional state but with mothers when they are distressed and need comfort.
Also found that when the father becomes the sole caregiver, he quickly becomes more sensitive to the needs and emotional states of their child
indicates that the gender of a caregiver is not crucial in predicting attachment quality. Rather it is the extent of caregiver involvement.
Outline Brown et al’s research into the Fathers role in level of responsiveness
investigated father involvement, paternal sensitivity, and father−child attachment security at 13 months and 3 years of age
Results demonstrated that involvement and sensitivity influenced father-child attachment security at age 3.
Indicates that the gender of a caregiver is not crucial in predicting attachment quality. Rather it is the extent of caregiver involvement.
What are strengths of research into the role of the father
Practical applications
Longitudinal
What are limitations of research into the role of the father
Not objective
Low population validity
Alpha bias
Socially sensitive
Evaluate practical applications as a strength of research into the role of the father
P: Led to successful applications, such as male partner involvement in antenatal classes, and the birthing process.
E: By valuing fathers more, men feel more able to be sensitive to the needs of their children. This leading to better attachments which in turn leads to better social and emotional development of children.
E: Strength because it improves the quality of life for people as adults and reduces problems for people in later life which also reduces costs in the health and legal systems.
Evaluate longitudinal study as a strength of research into the role of the father
P: Grossman’s research was carried out longitudinally.
E: The same families were followed up at three time points over a ten-year period (as opposed to studying
different children of varying ages at the same time).
E: Strength of the research because the findings of the study will not be affected by confounding variables such as individual differences
L: Therefore, Grossman’s study is strong evidence to support that the role of the father is different to that of the
mother and strengthens the validity of the claim that the role of the father is more involved in play and stimulation.
Evaluate the social bias a limitation of research into the role of the father
P: Social biases may prevent objective research into this
area.
E: Preconceptions about how fathers behave are created by common discussions. These stereotypes may cause unintentional observer bias when observers ‘see’ what they
expect rather than recording reality.
E: Limitation of the research into the role of the father because the conclusions drawn may be due to bias and therefore may lack internal validity. Therefore, the research does not demonstrate a valid representation of the father.
Discuss alpha bias in research into the role of the father
The body of research which claims that females are inherently better at caring for their offspring than men is alpha
biased as it exaggerates the differences between the genders regarding attachment, and some of the research claims
these differences to be fixed
e.g., oestrogen as the biological reason behind female nurturing
Evaluate the social sensitivity as a limitation of research into the role of the father
P: Grossman’s study could be seen to be socially sensitive
E: The suggestion that a mother’s role is more related to nurturing and a father’s role is more related to play could be distressing for some people as not everyone is raised with both a mother and a father and could therefore feel that their upbringing was inadequate based on these findings.
E: Limitation because family structures vary greatly in the modern day, and parents and children alike should be assured that they can develop perfectly healthily no matter what their circumstances, and the key
to the attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness and not the gender
