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Social referencing: A glance at fathers and marriage
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SOCIAL REFERENCING: A GLANCE AT FATHERS AND MARRIAGE Susan Dickstein and Ross Parke University of Illinois Social referencing refers to the tendency of a person to look to a significant other in an ambiguous situation to obtain clarifying information (Campos & Stenberg, 1981). The aims of the study were to assess (1) the extent to which infants engage in social referencing with various social targets, i.e., with their fathers as well as their mothers, and (2) the different factors of potential importance in controlling and maintaining the referencing behavior (e.g., infant sociability, marital satisfaction, affective interaction, etc.). Thus, 40 ten-month-old infants were observed on two separate occasions, once with their mothers and once with their fathers, in a 15minute social referencing situation (modified from Ainsworth's Strange Situation). Results indicated that infants use their fathers and mothers as referencing targets to an equal extent. This provides further evidence of the significant role of fathers in infancy as well as the generality of referencing across a range of social agents. Second, sex of infant was found to be an important modifier of the impact of parent sex on referencing. Specifically, boys referenced significantly more to their fathers than to their mothers in one episode (when stranger greeted and acted socially with the parent). Third, marital satisfaction was also found to be a modifier of referencing. Fathers who were maritally satisfied were reference targets more frequently in stressful episodes than maritally unsatisfied fathers. Level of maternal marital satisfaction did not affect the amount of referencing to mothers. This suggests that the mother-infant relationship may be more effectively buffered from other influences than the fatherinfant dyad.
SOCIAL REFERENCING: A GLANCE AT FATHERS AND MARRIAGE Susan Dickstein and Ross Parke University of Illinois Social referencing refers to the tendency of a person to look to a significant other in an ambiguous situation to obtain clarifying information (Campos & Stenberg, 1981). The aims of the study were to assess (1) the extent to which infants engage in social referencing with various social targets, i.e., with their fathers as well as their mothers, and (2) the different factors of potential importance in controlling and maintaining the referencing behavior (e.g., infant sociability, marital satisfaction, affective interaction, etc.). Thus, 40 ten-month-old infants were observed on two separate occasions, once with their mothers and once with their fathers, in a 15minute social referencing situation (modified from Ainsworth's Strange Situation). Results indicated that infants use their fathers and mothers as referencing targets to an equal extent. This provides further evidence of the significant role of fathers in infancy as well as the generality of referencing across a range of social agents. Second, sex of infant was found to be an important modifier of the impact of parent sex on referencing. Specifically, boys referenced significantly more to their fathers than to their mothers in one episode (when stranger greeted and acted socially with the parent). Third, marital satisfaction was also found to be a modifier of referencing. Fathers who were maritally satisfied were reference targets more frequently in stressful episodes than maritally unsatisfied fathers. Level of maternal marital satisfaction did not affect the amount of referencing to mothers. This suggests that the mother-infant relationship may be more effectively buffered from other influences than the fatherinfant dyad.