Commentary
Studies show that fathers have great influences on their daughter’s lives, given the fact that they shape their sense of worth and self-belief. The way a father approaches life serves as an example to the daughter, meaning that the presence of the father figure in the family determines the way a girl will relate and interact with others in mature commitments. Based on this, has to adopt the principles of sincerity and integrity. This means that the father should keep away from insincerity and disclose his weaknesses, as this would symbolize a sensible and affirmative example as far as approaching life is concerned. In their article, Byrd-Craven, Auer, Granger, and Massey conducted a study to determine the influence of the father on the daughter’s relationships and stress response. The focus of their study was to establish whether the quality of relationships between fathers and daughters are related in any way with the activities of the hypothalamic-pituitary-adrenal axis, the salivary cortisol, and the autonomic nervous system, especially when girls approach the adolescence stage.
In the first study, the researchers found out that the relationship of daughters was likely to be chaotic in case their associations with fathers were characterized by negative responses, pandemonium, and compulsion. Similarly, girls had lower morning cortisol levels apart from being temperamentally more perceptive to emotional changes. In the next study, the results proved that daughters who experienced affection, independence, support, and cordial relationships were likely to resolve their problems in public more easily. However, the researchers clarified that the nervous system had no role to play in determining the relationship between the daughter and the father.
Discussion
The study employed a robust method that had both a control group and the study group whereby one person was excluded from taking nicotine and food. The questionnaire was used in collecting the views of women, and the sample used was representative of the study population in the sense that it included women of all ages. The examination of the sample for outliers validated the method and the findings of the study. Additionally, the study used the recommended sample of over eighty participants with a mean age of 19.9. The use of six-dimensional parenting questionnaires as suggested by Skinner, Johnson, and Snyder improved content validity. The questionnaire was based on the motivational model as Skinner and others suggested.
The method that was applied was a valid and facilitated generalization of the findings because it aimed at capturing the three major parental styles. The first style that was discovered in the early 1950s is the significance of the parental love and compassion to the growth and development of the child, which suggests that that care giving is based on love and warmth. The questionnaire sought to capture this theme accurately by asking the question, “My father and I do special things together” (Byrd-Craven, Auer, Granger and Massey 90). The second premise of the parenting approach is the facilitation of structure whereby the father sets patent objectives for his daughter.
This facilitates the internationalization of rules and regulations, which is known to be advantageous to the child. The second question of the questionnaire, which sought to capture the views of girls by asking, “MY father’s expectations for me are clear,” confirmed that the study would be generalized. The last theme of parental care is autonomy and support, meaning that any father is supposed to grant some freedom to his daughter since it allows them to develop the sense of worth. The questionnaire captured this aspect when it asked respondents the question, “my father expects me to say what I think.” Based on this, the method used in conducting the study was valid as it is considered parsimonious.
Regarding the relevance of the study to the field of personality psychology, the scholars made two main contributions that can perhaps improve the understanding of the major concepts in the field. First, they explained the interconnectedness of biological factors and the social forces, such as the relationship between the nervous system and emotional change among women. Few studies have been conducted as far as understanding the relationships between biology and human behavior is concerned. The study proved that the nervous system does not have any role to play in influencing relationship formation among girls. However, salivary cortisol is related in some way to behavior change among women, especially when they are not in good terms with their fathers. The second contribution is related to the development of tests to determine particular emotional occurrences. Their study employed a unique approach in the comprehension of the effects of biological factors on human behavior, and future scholars can base their studies on these tests.
The study came up with amazing results as regards to the influence of the father on the future relationships of his daughter. One of the major findings is that the negative aspects of the father have negative impacts on the life of the daughter, implying that the father is a very important figure in life. For instance, if the father is unsupportive, the daughter is likely to develop antisocial behavior, and this affects the cortisol level in the sense that it increases it. Such women find problems discussing their problems with friends.
The study suffers from a credibility test because it only employed one sample, and no views of fathers were collected, as this would have allowed researchers to examine the issue from two different perspectives. The method used was unable to regulate the stress response, something that interfered with the understanding of the mechanics of stress system functioning. Further studies should be conducted to understand the effects of the father figure on the relationships of daughters.
Works Cited
Byrd-Craven, Jennifer, Auer, Brandon, Granger, Douglas, and Massey, Amber. “The Father-Daughter dance: the relationship between father-daughter relationship quality and daughter’s stress response.” Journal of Family Psychology 26.1 (2012): 87-94. Print.