Role of the Father

• Roles of Secondary attachment figure:

  • Providing apportunites for play and activity which is important for cognitive and intellectual development
  • Tend to seek out when in a positive state
• Typically the father takes on the role of secondary attachment and the mother takes on primary attachment figure. However psychological research suggets theres no reason for it to be the other way around.
• Until recently, employment law gave women more rights and job protection if they chose to take time off to look after their infant. In the UK maternity leave has been replaced by parental leave, recognising the changing nature of society and the fact more women are higher earners
• There can be a negative stigma around men as a primary caregiver. This can challenge traditional male roles and may also be difficult for women.
• A limitation of this research is that it relies heavily on self-report techniques. This is a problem because fathers may be seen as 'good dads' and may not be entirely honest about how much time they spend with their kids
• A further limitation is that there is a tendency to over generalise when we talk about 'fathers'. All fathers are different, and variables such as the age of the father, the number of hours spent away from home, will all impact on the role he takes