Fathers play an extremely important role in the development of their children. It is therefore important that fathers fulfill this role early in their children’s lives and continue to fulfill this role
What role does the father play in the child’s development?
Fathers play an extremely important role in the development of their children. It is therefore important that fathers fulfill this role early in their children’s lives and continue to fulfill this role. Much research has been done into the role of the father in the social and emotional development of the child. The emphasis was on the role of the father as a sex role model. The conclusion of these studies was that there is no direct connection between the masculinity of father and son. In simple words: A macho son is therefore not the result of a macho father. Contrary to the proverb, the proverbial apple can also fall far from the tree. Subsequently, the quality of the relationship between father and child became increasingly important in research into the role of the father in child development. This showed that paternal bonding and warmth are important in the child’s development, not his masculinity.
The father as educator
Researchers agree that the father should be seen primarily as an educator and not just as a male role model. They indicate three points that explain why parental modeling does not determine the development of the child’s sex role.
The first point is that in the development of their sex serol, sons do not simply adopt traits from their father, but they take traits from both the father and the mother. This also applies to daughters. Every child does imitate his or her parents, but only on the points that attract his or her interest.
The second point is that the role model that is the parent is not always also a gender role model. The father does not necessarily have to be male and the mother does not necessarily have to be female.
The third point mentioned by the researchers is that boys and girls behave differently in developing a sex role. For example, the characteristics of parents as sex role models have less influence on the daughter than on a son. Another difference in the influence on sons and daughters is that the degree of masculinity of the father has no influence on the extent to which he is involved with his daughter. In sons, the degree of masculinity of the father plays a small and somewhat peculiar role. The more masculine the father is, he will have less influence on the son.
The son’s masculinity is determined more by the coherence of other characteristics of the father, for example the father’s involvement in the care of his son, his say or dominance and his care . Research has shown that sons inherit specific traits from the father and other traits from the mother. Which qualities these are depends on the qualities that father and mother possess and which are of interest to their son.
Differences between fathers and mothers
The father’s role is also a parental role, just like that of the mother, and is increasingly seen and experienced as important. Yet there are still differences between the characteristics of fatherhood and motherhood. The most important differences in dealing with the child are the time fathers and mothers spend with their child and the way they communicate.
Game activities
Fathers spend proportionately more time with their children in play activities, while mothers spend more time with their children in care activities. Think of the quality time as it is called by vaqders when they work one day less. Research has shown that mothers of children between six and 21 months spend an average of 85 minutes a day feeding, 55 minutes changing and 140 minutes playing. Fathers spend fifteen, nine and 72 minutes a day on this successively. Mothers therefore spend almost six times as much time feeding the child, 6 times as much time changing and twice as much time playing.
The fact that mothers mainly do this and spend more time with their children is mainly determined by socio-cultural aspects. Many more mothers work in small part-time jobs than fathers. In play activities, it is notable that there are many similarities between fathers and mothers in their play with their children. They do not differ in the way they pay attention to the child during play. The similarities between fathers and mothers in their play are encouraging learning to look, learning to grasp and attention to relationships and effects.
Communication
The interaction that a father and mother have with their child is often similar, especially during the first years of the child’s life. They both show the same attention to the child, they look at the child when it is a baby and try to get his attention. They also both expect a response from the child.
Yet mothers have always had an advantage. The reason for this is that mothers interact more with their child, for example, they are more likely to see the unique characteristics of their child and have a closer bond with their child. This is mainly due to child care and family duties. The interaction between a father and his child is characterized more by play and social activities.
Fathers are more direct in their communication with their children, ask more W-questions (who, where, what, when and why), they refer more to things that have happened before and ask more for explanations. For example, when the daughter of the house comes home late at night and with a red face, it will be the mother who quickly notices that her daughter is in love. Mother reacts amicably, remembers the time when she became infatuated with the father, etc. The father, on the other hand, will soon ask questions along the lines of who the young man is?, where he comes from? When did falling in love begin? What the young man in question does in terms of work or study, etc.
By asking these questions, the father is seen as a bridge to the social world outside the family.
Fatherhood and the family environment
Fathers influence their children directly and indirectly. Indirectly means, for example, how the father interacts with the mother, what position he occupies on the social ladder and whether he is satisfied with his work. Direct influence refers to his behavior and attitude towards the child, and what messages are hidden in this behavior and attitude. The character traits of the father that have a major influence on the way he raises his child are self-esteem, being social and whether he is introverted or extroverted. Other characteristics of the father that influence the father-child relationship are the skills, knowledge and the attitude.
A father influences not only the interaction with his child, but also the interaction between mother and child. Fathers who communicate more with their partners also do so more with their children. T he influence of the father on family characteristics therefore also plays an important role. The relationship between the parents is especially essential. The quality of the marriage has a major influence on the way the father interacts with his child. This influence is greater on the relationship between a father and his child than on the relationship between mother and child.
The Bonding Between Father and Child
Attachment is one of the most important influences on social and emotional development. When adults respond appropriately to the child’s needs during the bonding period, the child sees adults as reliable and predictable. The result is a secure attachment.
The attachment between a child and his/her father and mother develops independently of each other. This is because children attach themselves to a stable person in their environment. A child can therefore become attached to different people, depending on the number of people who behave reliably and predictably towards the child. In addition to the child’s parents, this could also be another person from the child’s environment. Consider children who are raised in a foster family. Here too, a close child-parent relationship is created.
In the short term, the bond between a father and his child is consistent with that between mother and child. This attachment bond determines, among other things, the extent to which a child is social, adaptive and secure in relationships with other people.
The bond that a child specifically has with his father also has long-term consequences. These consequences affect the adult romantic relationships the child may or may not have later in adolescence and adulthood. There are also long-term associations of the child’s bond with the father with the way children interact with their peers in adolescence.
A father is very important for children. He influences their development through his character and attitudes, the quality of his relationship with the partner and the extent to which the child is attached to his or her father. This makes it important that a father is seen as an educator of his child.