the role of the father

• what is a primary caregiver 


  the person who has formed the closest bond with a child, demonstrated by the intensity of the relationship
• who is normally the primary caregiver

  the mother
• what did Schaffer find about majority of babies 


  found that majority of babies become attached to their mother at 7 months and in 27% of cases the father was the joint first object of attachment with the mother
• when, how and how many form primary attachments

  75% of infants studied eventually form secondary attachments with the father at 18 months
• what year was grossman 


  2002
• how kind of study did grossman conduct


  a longitudinal study
• what was grossman looking at in his study


  parents behaviour and how this related to the quality of children's attachments into their teens
• what were the results of grossmans study


  showed that the quality of the fathers attachment with the child was less important in the attachment type of the teenagers than the quality of attachment with the mother
• what did grossmans study suggest


  that the father's role is less important in long-term emotional development
• according to attachment what is the role of the father

  more to do with play and stimulation and less to do with nurturing and caring for the baby
• can father also be primary caregivers

  yes
• what does evidence suggest about fathers who take on the role of primary caregivers

  adopt more behaviour typical of mothers
• what did field do and find


  filmed 4 month babies and found that primary caregiver fathers spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants then secondary caregiver fathers
• what does fields findings suggest


  that is the father takes on the role of primary caregiver they will produce behaviour more typical of mothers
• what is the key to forming attachments 


  the level of responsiveness of the mother and father, not the gender of the parent
• what behaviours are important in building an attachemnt

  • smiling
  • imitating
  • holding infant
• evidence we need dads ( schaffer and emerson and grossman)

  1. Schaffer and Emerson - 75% of children formed secondary attachments at 18 months with fathers
  2. Grossman - fathers role is play and stimulation not nurturing and caring. but the quality of fathers early is related to children's attachment
• evidence we need dads ( field and mums )

  1. field - found fathers can be nurturers - display nurturing behaviour if they are primary caregivers
  2. fathers can take pressure off mums who feel like they want to go back to work but they need to be the primary caregiver
• evidence we dont need dads ( grossman and biological )

  1. Grossman - quality of infant attachmets linked to adolescent attachment was found with mothers but not found with fathers
  2. fathers have less oestrogen/oxytocin compared to mothers - this explains why can't be the nurturer
• evidence we dont need dads (Golombok and Maccallum and nurturer)

  1. Maccallum and Golombok - show how single parent, same-sex families no different/ no disadvantage
  2. doesn't matter who the nurturer is as long as baby is nurtured
• what is oestrogen do 


  love, care, emotions and bonding
• what is a weakness of the role of the father (cannot agree) (PE)

  P - a problem with research on the father is that psychologist cannot come to a simple agreement about with the role of the father actually is

  E - some psychologists such as Shaffer see the father as having a distinct role as a secondary figure and Grossman who believes fathers are responsible for play
• what is a weakness of the role of the father (cannot agree) (EL)

  E - other psychologists, such as field, are interested in the role of the father as a primary attachment figure, and they have found that fathers can take on a more maternal role

  L - this is a limitations because it means psychologist cannot easily answer the simple question: what is the role of the father?
• what is a weakness of the role of the father (clear answer) (PE)

  P - also research fails to provide a clear answer about fathers and primary attachments

  E - the answer could be related to traditional gender roles, in which women are expected to be more caring and nurturing than men fathers may not feel as though they should act in a feminine way
• what is a weakness of the role of the father (clear answer) (EL)

  E - another explanation would say that fathers do not have high levels of oestrogen, which are responsible for love, care, emotion, bonding, etc as the mother and therefore cannot be nurturer

  L - this suggests that there may be multiple reasons as to why it is mainly females who usually form the primary attachment
• what is a limitation of the role of the father (social biases) (EL)

  E - these stereotypes may result in researcher bias - father playful

  L - conclusions of the role of the father in attachment are hard to disentangle from social bias about their role
• what is a weakness of the role of the father (social biases) (PE)

  P - a further limitation is that social biases prevent objective observations of fathers' behaviour

  E - preconceptions about how fathers behave are created by common discussions about mothers and fathers parenting behaviour