AO1 – The father is NOT as important

• • Research into single-parent families found that their children did not develop differently from those with two parents, suggesting that the role of the second parent (usually the father) is less important.​
• • Lamb (1997) reported that studies show little relationship between amount of time spent with father and infant-father attachment. It may be that most men are not psychologically equipped to form intense attachments, as they lack the emotional sensitivity of women due to biological or social factors.
• ·       The different hormones may play a role. Females are biologically pre-programmed to be more nurturing, for example because of their higher levels of oestrogen. Oestrogen underlies caring behaviour, which may make women biological more suited to forming attachments. ​
• ·       Research evidence also suggests that fathers are not as equipped as mothers to provide a sensitive and nurturing attachment. Hrdy (1999) found that fathers were less able to detect low levels of infant distress, in comparison to mothers. This provides further evidence that fathers are not able to provide a sensitive and nurturing type of attachment, as they are unable to detect stress in their children
• links to Schaffer and Emerson’s research