Less likely to be babies first attachment figure. Schaffer and Emerson found 50% babies became attached to mother at 7months, 3% to father, 75% attached to father by 18months
What was the study into the role of father for attachment
Grossman et al = longitudinal study measured parental behaviour and quality of childs attachment in later life, found association between quality of attachment with mother and quality of peer attachment, link for quality of fathers play and peer attachment
Weakness of role of the father
Contradictory findings = Filmed baby face to face interactions with primary caregiver mother, Father and secondary caregiver Father. Found primary caregiver Father was the same as primary mother
Weakness of role of the father
Contradictory findings = measured child development of kids raised in single parent families + same sex parent families. Found kids developed the same in both condition compared to regular families
Strength of role of the father
Real life application = findings suggest that the Role of the parent is more important than their gender
