The role of the father

• Outline research into the role of the father.

  Research has shown that fathers are typically the secondary attachment figure, with 75% of infants forming an attachment with their father by 18 months.

  Their reduced likelihood of being the primary attachment figure is proposed to result from both biological factors (reduced oestrogen levels so less nurturing) and social factors (typically the breadwinner so spend less time bonding with the infant).
• Outline research into the role of the father.


  Research into the role of the father has also shown that they provide a different role to that of the mother by acting as the exciting play mate.

  This means they provide more playful and physically challenging interactions.
• Outline research into the role of the father.


  Research has found that fathers are important in preventing negative outcomes in their children.

  E.g. children with absent fathers are more likely to perform poorer at school and are at an increased likelihood of engaging in delinquent behaviour.
• Evaluate research into the role of the father: contradictory evidence. 


  E.g. researchers initially stated that fathers are less able to take on nurturing roles due to biological factors such as reduced oestrogen. However, research has since found that fathers who become the main care provider (e.g. as seen in single parent families) are able to quickly develop more sensitivity to their child’s needs. This is a limitation as is contradicts the proposal that sensitivity/nurturing is a biological ability limited to women.
• Evaluate research into the role of the father: supporting evidence.


  E.g. a researcher observed children with their parents in their family homes. They found that children preferred interacting with their fathers when they were in a positive emotional state. In contrast, they preferred interacting with their mothers when in a distressed state. This is a strength as it supports the proposal that fathers are the exciting playmates while mothers provide emotional support and comfort.
• Evaluate research into the role of the father: positive applications. 


  E.g. research highlighting the important of fathers led to benefits such as paternity leave. It also highlighted how fathers can be just as important as mothers, enabling mothers to feel more comfortable returning to work while fathers spend more time at home. This is a strength because such applications have helped to better support families (e.g. fathers being able to provide support during their paternity leave) as well as helped to reduce the gender pay gap by encouraging more women to return to work.
• Evaluate research into the role of the father: risk of confounding variables. 


  This is because most studies have focused on female single mothers from poor socio-economic backgrounds. This is a limitation because it may be that social factors related to poverty produced the negative outcomes (e.g. poor performance at school) rather than the absent father.