CHAPTER 8

LECTURE EXTENSION

The Effects of Attachment to Mother and to Father on Children's Self-Esteem

A recent study by Verschueren and Marcoen (1999) explored the relation between attachment to both mother and father and children's self-esteem. In this investigation, the participants were eighty 5-year-olds who had been living with both of their biological parents since birth. Attachment quality was measured using a story-completion task. The children were asked to complete attachment-related story beginnings (for example, screaming that there is a monster in the bedroom, crying because he/she quarreled with another child at school) using a doll family. The children's self-esteem was assessed using three measures: a teacher rating, a puppet interview, and a pictorial task.

The results showed that the quality of child-mother and child-father attachment was related to children's perceptions of the self. In particular, as measured by the puppet interview, children who were securely attached to their mother generally had higher self-esteem than children with an insecure attachment to their mother. Attachment to fathers did not affect the positiveness of children's perceptions of the self (as measured by the puppet interview). In terms of behavioral expressions of self-esteem (measured by the teachers' ratings), children with a secure attachment to their father showed more self-confidence, initiative, and independence in their approach to the world than children with an insecure attachment to their father. With regard to attachment to mothers, differences in behavioral expressions of self-esteem were in the same direction, but were not significant. Also, the children's anxious and withdrawn behavior problems were better predicted by the quality of child-father attachment than by the quality of child-mother attachment.

The authors concluded that these findings do not support a "dominance" of either child-mother or child-father attachment. Rather, these results suggest that the relative predictive power of child-mother and child-father attachments differs according to the domain of child functioning that is assessed. The authors speculated that this may be because the mother is more likely to play the role of caregiver and nurturer, whereas the father is more likely to play the role of playmate and satisfy the child's need for exciting, explorative play. Because anxious, withdrawn behavior reflects a lack of exploration and independence, the authors argued that it makes sense that anxious and withdrawn behavior problems are more closely related to the security of children's attachment to their father.

Verschueren, K., & Marcoen, A. (1999). Representation of self and socioemotional competence in kindergartners: Differential and combined effects of attachment to mother and father. Child Development, 70, 183-201.

LEARNING ACTIVITY

Observing Children's Reactions to Violations of Moral Rules and Social Conventions

To illustrate children's early grasp of the distinction between moral rules and social conventions, ask students to spend a morning or afternoon observing in a preschool or child care center, watching for instances in which moral rules and social conventions are violated. Have students write down a description of each incident and how children and adults react. They should find that when a moral offense occurs (such as taking someone else's belongings), children react emotionally, describe their own injury or loss, tell another child to stop, or retaliate. An adult who intervenes is likely to call attention to the rights and feelings of the victim. In contrast, children often do not respond to violations of social convention (such as bad manners). In these situations, adults tend to demand obedience without explanation, as when they state, "Say the magic word!" or "Don't eat with your fingers."