Role of the Father

• The father in attachment research is anyone who takes on the role of the main male attachment figure
• There is evidence to support the difference in primary and secondary attachment of fathers e.g. Tiffany Field
• Tiffany Field filmed 4 month old babies in interaction with primary caregiver mothers and father and secondary caregiver fathers
• Tiffany Field found that primary caregiver fathers acted more similarly to primary caregiver mothers than secondary caregiver fathers e.g. interactional synchrony, reciprocity
• Tiffany Field's research shows that fathers have the potential to provide close emotional attachment but only when given the role of primary caregiver
• Grossman et.al. carried out a longitudinal study where babies' attachments were studied until they were into their teens
• Grossman found that the quality of a babies attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to the child's attachments in adolescence, suggesting attachment to fathers is less important
• Grossman found that the quality of fathers' play with babies was related to the quality of adolescent attachments, suggesting that fathers have a larger role in play and stimulation than emotional development
• There is a lack of reliability in research into role of the father as they do not differentiate between primary and secondary attachment
• McCallum & Golombok consistently show that children from single mother and lesbian-parent households do not develop differently from heterosexual households
• Research into role of the father has real-life application as mothers may feel pressured into taking on the stereotypical mother role so can be reassured by evidence that fathers can become primary attachment figures