Proper parental attachment is crucial to the psychological, mental and physical development of each child. The appropriate growth determines future behavior and quality of life that these children would be living. Proper psychological and mental development also ensures that each child’s future is provided with a good start for the sake of their future lives. Each parent has a responsibility to understand their child and to identify ways of improving their parent-child relationship.It is important to note thatsignificant parental attachment guarantees great health andabundant life for the child. The importance of parental attachment necessitates and validates the need for further extensive research into variables that affect parental attachment both positively and negatively and ways in which they can be manipulated to improve parental attachment levels. The paper mainly deals with two variables that are sex (gender) and self-esteem levels. These two variables would be extensively researched with reference to prior research to determine the effect they hold on the levels of parental attachment. The paper is mainly guided by the hypothesis, which claims that sex and self-esteem levels are variables with an impact on the strength of parental attachment.
Self-esteem
Self-esteem is the definition and description of self-confidence. Self-esteem is the personal understanding and comprehension of one’s own worth and the ability to repel negativity and avoid self-loathing. High self-esteem means personal acceptance emotionally, physically and even spiritually. The variable can affect how people interact with others as it goes further than just personal definitions but also the emotional quotient of each person, which determines just how well they interact with others. Higher self-esteem means one is able to properly relate to others and is in fact capable of forging meaningful relationships and is not afraid of attachments. This shows the importance of self-esteem to any individual as it affects all aspects of the development of the individual that is the mental, physical and emotional. The author Jennifer Crocker mentions in her article of the implications of relying on outside sources to define self-worth and acceptance. The author mentions that relying on outside sources to determine levels of self-esteem has negative implications on both the physical and mental well-being of the individual (Crocker, 2002). The findings from the article by Crocker show the importance of further and deeper understanding of self-esteem and why it is a crucial determinant of the well-being and development of each individual. Dittmann (2002) reviews the study by Crocker and identifies the viability and acceptance of the findings posed by the author, which in turn gives reasonable grounds for submitting that the information from the study can be relied on to make factual conclusions and understandings.
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Sex
Sex refers to the concept of gender that is male and female. Sex defines a person's gender roles and places in society. In as much as people would like to believe that both genders are equal and the same, there still exists a distinctive difference in the emotional, mental and physical being of the two sexes. Each gender is defined by different dynamics, including interactions attitudes, beliefs, confidence, and such. Understanding sex means being aware of how both genders are defined, how they behave under different circumstances and how they work and operate. It, therefore, is quite crucial to properly understand how each gender is defined within society, the social norms, the myths, and misconceptions about each gender and most importantly the truths defining each gender and what they do. Understanding sex also allows for improved acceptance of gender equality within society through the compartmentalization of each of these concepts. Lefkowitz et al. (2014) mention that “social norms about gender in non-sexual domains may similarly influence sexual behaviors in that they may structure men’s and women’s behaviors with each other” (p. 835). The statement brings to light how societal constructions define and determine the way genders behave. Such includes the belief and understanding of women being more compassionate and caring. Understanding how different sexes work and characteristics that define them are crucial to properly understanding these genders.
How Self-esteem Influences Parental Attachment
As mentioned earlier, self-esteem affects self-acceptance and defines the social hierarchy of an individual and therefore individual and personal confidence. The individual with high self-esteem and value for self-worth understands their place within each relationship. The individual would hence confidently and positively interact with others, which would eventually lead to better interactions and creation of relationships; this is to say that these individuals would not shy away from relationships and would seek out others. Individuals with high self-esteem, in other words, are not afraid of socialization and would willingly subject themselves to it. The confidence to socialize and interact applies to all relations of the individual or in this case a child, including the parent-child relations.
Furthermore, a child with high self-esteem would be willing to interact and socialize with the parents forming stronger bonds that constitute parental attachment. The child would see stronger parental attachment as a positive interaction and would be willing to further grow it. The opposite can be said for a child with low self-esteem. Young (2013) in the article The Influence of Parent-Child Attachment Relationships and Self-Esteem on Adolescents’ Engagement in Risky Behaviors states that “it may be that self-esteem plays the role of a moderator between these relationships and individuals’ developmental trajectories.” This indicates that indeed self-esteem does dictate the level and kind of relationships an individual engages in and therefore parental attachment as well.
How Sex Influences Parental Attachment
Sex is the definition of whether an individual is male or female. It provides an individual with an identity and a way of life. Sex also determines a person’s characteristics whether by societal norms and accepted behaviors or through hormonal means. The characteristics that define a man are different from those that define a woman; though there may be similarities in both there are more distinctive differences that define a man and a woman. Haigler et al. (1995) assert that “feminine and androgynous individuals reported significantly higher levels of parental attachment than those classified as masculine and undifferentiated” (p. 203). The statement goes to show that those of the female gender are more prone to parental attachment than those of the male gender. The findings may be attributed to the sense of independence and self-reliance that is associated with the male gender. The sense of independence moves the individuals into a more lone type of life that they deem more masculine as opposed to imposing on parental attachment.
Moreover, Pierrehumbert et al. (2009) mention, “… boys play tend to involve both agitated behaviors and inhibited emotions more often, while the girls' play showed morecaregiving attitudes” (p. 545). The information gives the chance to ascertain that girls are more compassionate in nature and like to nurture which goes to show they would be more prone to parental attachment than boys. On the other hand, the information shows boys with inhibited emotion which would automatically hinder proper parental attachment for the male gender.
The Research Question
The paper is mainly defined and guided by the research question concerning how sex and self-esteem variables affect the level and extent of parental attachment. Sex and self-esteem are among many variables that were initially considered, but they were chosen to act as the main lens of the project guiding each research activity.
Method Section
Participants
The study involved participants selected specifically relevant to the study question. Each participant had to have a direct affiliation with the variables under study to ensure information retrieved from these participants was relevant to the study in question. The participants had to also go through a screening process that would filter out those unfit for the selected criteria to only achieve the best for the study. This filtering process was aimed at ensuring that each one of these participants was reliable and could be trusted to provide information that would improve the viability of the study. Moreover, the participants had to be of a certain age group.
Measures
The study aimed to determine how particular variables influenced the level of parental attachment. The variables included sex that is male and female and self-esteem levels of each individual selected. The two variables represented the independent variables which resulted in or affected the dependent variable that is parental attachment. The study was measured with the use of a survey questionnaire which would collect information and personal opinions that each individual participant had. Ping Yu and Siyu Qian in their study mention developing a questionnaire to assess various opinions and variables in their study. Yu and Qian (2018) speak towards the reliability of the questionnaire, claiming that they adopted a previously proven version of the questionnaire structure from a reliable source and modified it to fit the study. Questionnaires have quite a high validity as they can be modified to fit a particular study and allow for direct responses from participants.
Procedure
The study involved random selection of volunteer participants who would then be further screened and interviewed to determine the reliability of each participant. Reliability would be determined through the assessment of their affiliation towards the variables within the study question as well as any bias they may have had towards any part or procedure of the study. Those deemed viable would then be asked to sign a document relaying that they volunteered for the study and were not in any way forced to participate in it. The document showing that the participants had volunteered was crucial as it would go towards proving that each of the clients was eligible for the study and that information obtained in the study was reliable as the volunteers provided it under no duress. This speaks towards the validity and viability of the study. Furthermore, each participant chosen was from a normal day to day setting to improve external validity and applicability of the results obtained. The participants would then be asked to honestly answer and fill out survey forms which would provide information that would be synthesized and analyzed later, allowing for a conclusive result obtained from the study.
References
Crocker, J. (2002). The Costs of Seeking Self–Esteem. Journal of Social Issues , 58 (2), 597-615. Retrieved from https://spssi.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1111/1540-4560.00279.
Dittmann, M. (2002). In Brief: Self-Esteem Thats Based on External Sources has Mental Health Consequences, Study Says. PsycEXTRA Dataset , 13(11). doi:10.1037/e300122003-014
Haigler, V.F., Day, H.D. & Marshall, D.D. (1995). Parental attachment and gender - role identity. Sex Roles 33, 203- 220.
Lefkowitz, E. S., Shearer, C. L., Gillen, M. M., & Espinosa-Hernandez, G. (2014). How Gendered Attitudes Relate to Women’s and Men’s Sexual Behaviors and Beliefs. Sexuality & Culture , 18 (4), 833–846. http://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-014-9225-6
Pierrehumbert, B., Santelices, M. P., Alberdi M. I. M., Ongari, B., Stievenart, I. R. M., Spences, R., Rodriguez, A. F. & Borghini, A., (2009). Gender and Attachment Representations in the Preschool Years. Comparisons between Five Countries. Journal of Cross-Cultural Psycholog y, 40 (4), 543-566.
Young, R. (2013). The Influence of Parent-Child Attachment Relationships and Self-Esteem on Adolescents’ Engagement in Risky Behaviors. Retrieved from file:///C:/Users/user/Downloads/Documents/YoungThesis2013.pdf .
Yu, P., & Qian, S. (2018). Developing a theoretical model and questionnaire survey instrument to measure the success of electronic health records in residential aged care. Retrieved April 12, 2018, from http://journals.plos.org/plosone/article?id=10.1371/journal.pone.0190749
