Role of the father

• Why study this?

  Traditionally, fathers only play minor role in 

  parenting. In the past, married couples had 

  ‘expected roles’

  BUT…

  • It is now the norm for mothers to have a job (5.3m employed in 2013).
  • 9% single parents (186k) are male.

  So, men now have a bigger role in parenting than ever before.
• Early research

  Focused solely on mother-infant interaction.

  Bowlby 🡪 ONE primary caregiver, usually the 

  mother.

  Early research presented fathers as less of a caregiver more of a playmate! 

  Mothers perceived as more nurturing so more able to recognise & respond to their child’s needs (sensitive responsiveness)
• Parent-infant attachments

  Traditionally, we only talk about mother-infant attachment.

  Schaffer and Emerson (1964):

  • The majority of babies become attached to their mother first (around 7 months), and then within a few weeks or months formed secondary attachment to other family members, including fathers.
  • In 75% of infants studied an attachment was formed with the father by the age of 18 months.

  This was determined by the fact that the infants protested when their father walked away – sign of attachment.
• Grossman (2002) - Role of the father

  Aim: How important are fathers in 

  children’s development & do they 

  have a distinct role?

  Longitudinal Study (44 families)

  Looked both parents’ behaviour & its relationship to the quality of children’s attachment experience (up until the teens)
• Grossman (2002) - Role of the father

  Found that quality of infant attachment with their mothers (not fathers) was related to attachments in adolescence

  Suggests that father attachment is less important for later relationships

  However, quality of fathers play with infants was related to quality of adolescent attachments! 

  Suggests that fathers play a different role in attachment. Play and stimulation (not nurturing).
• Fathers as primary caregivers

  When fathers do take on the role of primary caregiver, they adopt behaviour more typical of mothers.

  Field (1978) - filmed 4 months-old babies in face-to-face interaction with:

  • Primary caregiver mothers
  • Secondary caregiver fathers 
  • Primary caregiver fathers.
• Fathers as primary caregivers

  Primary caregiver fathers, like mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than the secondary caregiver fathers.

  This behaviour is important in building an attachment with the infant.

  = Fathers can be the more nurturing attachment figure.

  = The key to the attachment is the level of responsiveness, not the gender