Role of the father

• Bowlby (1988)


  • Bowlby suggests that fathers can fill a role closely resembling that filled by a mother but this is uncommon.
  • According to Bowlby, a father is more likely to engage in physically active and novel play and is the child's preferred play companion.
• Schaffer and Emerson (1964)

  • Found that majority of babies attached to mother first at around 7 months (father solely first in only 3% of cases, father joint first attachment with mother in 27% of cases)
  • Additional attachments developed in the proceeding months (4th stage) to secondary attachments including the father.
  • In 75% of infants studied, by 18months, they had formed an attachment to the father (babies protested when father’s walked away, indicating attachment)
• Field (1978)


  • Compared the behaviours of primary caregiver mothers with primary + secondary caregiver fathers.
  • Face-to-face interactions were analysed from video footage with infants at 4 months of age.
  • Secondary caregiver fathers engaged more in game playing and held their infants less.
  • Primary caregiver fathers engaged in significantly more smiling, imitative grimaces, and imitative vocalizations and these were comparable with mothers’ behaviour
  • These behaviours are related to interactional synchrony and the formational of an emotional attachment (Isabella et al, 1989)