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Triad instead of diad – the role of the partner and father in family life

Magdalena Gąsiorowska, Milena Gracka-Tomaszewska

Affiliacja i adres do korespondencji
PSYCHIATR. PSYCHOL. KLIN. 2011, 11 (1), p. 42-45
Streszczenie

Paternity is a topic that hasn’t been very popular in psychological literature so far. Psychologists were focused on the mother and her child at most. No more than a few years ago, the role of a father in the family had started to be examined, as well as the father’s impact on the child’s development and the consequences of his absence. Studies originally focused on diadic relationships: mother – child and father – child. More recent studies include all three: mother, father and child. The effects of such factors as the mother’s representation of the child, the father’s representation of the child, the mother’s representation of the partner, satisfaction in marriage, willingness to accept the child, economic status of the family, their education and understanding of the role of the father in the upbringing process on the child’s development have been checked. The central topic of the presented study is the father of the child as an “emotional catalyst” for the mother, as a supporting person with a considerable impact on the mother and the emotions she feels while expecting the birth of the child. The studies regarding the mother – father – baby triad and the dynamics within it are described in the following article. The article presents the interpersonal process of forming up the triad (triadification) and experiencing the triad by its participants (triangulation). Also the influence of the ability of being a part of the triad (triadic capacity) on the quality of the relationship within the triad of mother, father and infant is being presented. The studies described in the article show the key importance of the father’s presence in the child’s upbringing along with the significance of the relationship between parents in their parenting abilities and well-being of the whole triad.

Słowa kluczowe
mother’s representation of child, mother – father – child triadic relationship, triadification, triangulation