Role of the Father

• While traditionally the role of the father may have been limited, as fathers would go to work to provide resources and the mothers took care of the children, recently the role of the father has changed significantly in many different ways.
• Increased involvement: modern fathers are more hands-on in parenting, taking an active role in daily childcare, education, and emotional support compared to previous generations
• Shared responsibilities: there’s a growing trend towards sharing household and parenting duties, with many couples adopting more equitable divisions of labour
• Paternal leave: more fathers are taking advantage of paternity leave, advocating for policies that support their role in early child-rearing
• Research suggests that men are not equipped to form attachments, both psychologically and socially. And that the different hormones in men/women may play a role. Oestrogen underlies caring behaviour, which may make women biological more suited to forming attachments
• There are also cultural / social expectations that view child rearing as stereotypically feminine. This may deter males taking on a child rearing role, even if they want to.
• • It can also be argued that in modern families the father can be seen as more of a playmate figure than a primary caregiver
  • For example, Geiger (1996) finds that the way in which fathers play with their children is more exciting and pleasurable than mothers and therefore reinforces this behaviour
• Results from Lamb (1987) also support this. They find that children often interact with their fathers when in a positive emotional state and so it could be inferred they are seeking stimulation rather than comfort.
• Whilst the previous points suggest the role of the father is limited, there is further research that suggests that fathers are able to form secure attachments with their children if the right conditions are met
• Specifically if fathers are in an intimate marriage with the mother then it is possible for secure attachments to be formed. This suggests that secure attachments are possible but the strength of which can differ based on relationship factors
• • Based on these factors we can see that psychologists disagree over the exact role of the father. Some researchers claim that men are simply not equipped to form an attachment. Such psychologists point to biological evidence which suggests that the hormone oestrogen underlies caring behaviour in women and the lack of oestrogen in men is why they are unable to form a close attachment
• Finally, some researchers argue that fathers can demonstrate sensitive responsiveness and respond to the needs of their children and therefore can form a strong emotional tie or bond
• Other researchers argue that fathers do not take on a caregiver role and in fact provide a playmate role.