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Multiple attachment - Coggle Diagram
Multiple attachment
The role of the father
Bowlby believed that children have one primary attachment figure, usually the mother , but did agree that this could be the father in some cases.
Many researchers have seen the father as less of a caregiver and more as a playmate. This is because father's play is often more physical, unpredictable and exciting than mothers.
Mothers have often been seen to show more sensitive responsiveness. But males can also quickly develop this ability when taking on the role of main care provider.
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Evaluation
Pedersen (1979) has argued that outcome could be due to socio-economic background, as many of the studies have focused on female single mothers and poorer families.
Evidence suggests that fathers are just as capable of displaying sensitive responsiveness and form the same secure attachments with children as mothers, but many social conventions still see fathers differently.
The amount of interaction between father and children is important, but it could be that more sensitive fathers interact more with the children.
As Schaffer concluded, most children form multiple attachments. But the important of these different attachment figures is disputed.
Opposing models
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He also believed that all other attachment figures formed after the primary attachment were less important.
Rutter (1995) proposed a model of multiple attachments that stated that all attachments are of equal importance and attachments combine to help form a child's internal working model.
Evaluation
There is an evolutionary advantage of multiple attachments - if a child loses an a attachment figure, there are others to take its place.