role of the father

• What did Schaffer and Emerson find about fathers being the sole attachment figure?

  In only 3% of cases the father was the first sole object of attachment
• What did Schaffer and Emerson find about fathers being the joint attachment figure?

  In 27% of cases the father was the joint first object of attachment with the mother
• What did Schaffer and Emerson find about fathers being the joint attachment figure by 18 months?

  75% of the babies studied formed an attachment with their father by the age of 18 months
• What does Schaffer and Emerson suggest about the role of the father?

  Initially the father is does not have an important role However, the father begins to have an important role after 18 months
• What did Grossman (2000) carry out?

  A longitudinal study
• What did Grossman (2000) look at?

  The parents' behaviour and its relationship to the quality of the children's attachment into their teens
• What did Grossman (2000) find about children's attachment in adolescence?

  Quality of infant attachment with mothers but not fathers was related to children's attachment in adolescence
• What else did Grossman (2000) find?

  Quality of fathers' play with babies was related to the quality of adolescent attachments
• What does Grossman suggest about the role of the father?

  The father may fulfil a qualitatively different role from that of the mother
• What did Geiger (1996) find?


  A fathers' play interactions were more exciting in comparison to a mothers.
• What does Geiger suggest about the role of the father?

  The father may fulfil a qualitatively different role from that of the mother
• What did Field (1978) do?


  Filmed babies in face-to-face interaction with caregivers
• Which caregivers did Field study?

  Primary caregiver mothers, secondary caregiver fathers and primary caregiver fathers
• What did Field (1978) find?

  Primary caregiver fathers, like mothers, spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants than the secondary caregiver fathers
• What does Field suggest about the role of the father?

  When fathers are primary caregiver, they are able to adopt the emotional role more typically associated with mothers
• Findings on the role of the father could be described as what?

  Inconsistent
• How are findings on the role of the father inconsistent?

  Some studies showing fathers have a nurturing role, some suggesting they have a different role
• Why are findings on the role of the father inconsistent?

  Often this is because different research studies have different questions
• Why is it a problem that findings on the role of the father inconsistent?

  Findings lack reliability and validity
• What did MacCallum and Golombok (2004) find?


  Children growing up in single-parent (or same-sex) families do not develop any differently from those who grow up in more 'conventional' families
• How does MacCallum and Golombok (2004) challenge findings about the role of the father?

  This questions the validity of findings that suggest fathers are important
• What is unknown in the role of the father research?

  Whether fathers don't become primary attachment figures because of social roles or because or biology
• Why is it a problem that we don't know why fathers don't become a primary attachment figure more often?

  The research is limited and therefore less useful.