Involved fathers of preschool children as seen by themselves and their wives: Accounts of attachment, socialization, and companionship

Abstract

Studies of infant-father attachment and other aspects of father-child relationships burgeoned during the 1980s and 90s, in step with new expectations for greater father participation in childrearing, but less is known about how involved fathers experience themselves as attachment figures, socialization agents, and playmates/companions of their young children. In an attempt to investigate these topics from a relationship perspective, we administered the Parent Attachment Interview (PAI) to 49 married fathers from dual career families who, based on current literature, were expected to be active participants in caring for and interacting with their preschool children. The 22 open-ended PAI questions were designed to probe fathers' thoughts and feelings about parent-child attachment, but also elicited extensive descriptions of other aspects of fathering, including socialization and companionship. In addition, fathers reflected on similarities and differences between the father- and mother-child relationships, and these accounts were compared with corresponding discussions by their wives. Among new issues raised by the study were the role of affection in attachment relationships, evidence for the attachment hierarchy construct, issues of parental self-control in relation to discipline, conceptual overlaps between attachment and other aspects of parenting, and the diverse meanings of father-mother differences and disagreements in the three domains of parenting addressed in this study.

Gender differences in the socialization of preschoolers' emotional competence

“…Following culturally approved gender roles, and operating in genderspecifi c contexts, mothers may be the carriers of the "emotional function" of the family, with fathers more likely fi lling playmate/disciplinarian roles (Bretherton, Lambert, & Golby, 2005;Garside & Klimes-Dougan, 2002;Lewis & Lamb, 2003). For example, we would expect mothers to express emotions that support relationship enhancement, such as shared joy, gratitude, and tenderness.…”

Intergenerational Transmission of Perceived Bonding Styles and Paternal Emotion Socialization: Mediation Through Paternal Emotion Dysregulation

“…Furthermore, socialization studies have not thoroughly explored fathers' guidance strategies compared to that of mothers (Bretherton et al 2005). Bowlby (1969Bowlby ( /1982see also Fox 1967) once put forward a somewhat provocative suggestion that a woman and her children make the most basic human social unit, with societies differing in the degree to which fathers become attached.…”

Inteligência e Contágio Emocional: um estudo com trabalhadores brasileiros e angolanos

“…A primeira é que o ensino superior aumenta a habilidade de lidar com as emoções (Day & Carroll, 2004), isto é, aumenta a capacidade de identificar similaridades e diferenças entre as emoções e seus impactos no próprio desempenho e no dos demais (Boyatzis et al, 1999;Mayer et al, 1999). A segunda explicação diz respeito ao próprio processo de socialização da mulher, que é mais preparada para lidar com a emoção (Baron-Cohen, 2004), assumindo a "função emocional" no contexto familiar (Bretherton, Lambert, & Golby, 2005;Denham et al, 2010).…”