Role of the Father

• The Role of the Father:

  • Fathers play a more active role in raising children in Western cultures
  • Fathers adopt a play-mate role and encourage risk-taking in children
  • Most infants prefer contact with their father when in a positive emotional state and wanting to play
• In the UK, fathers were not given paternal leave until recently, leading to implicit responsibility for child care given to mothers
• Men seem to lack emotional sensitivity to infant cues compared to women, possibly due to hormonal differences
• Male children are likelier to prefer their father as an attachment figure than female children
• Children are more likely to be attached to their fathers during late childhood to early adolescence
• Fathers are less likely to be involved with their infant if the infant has a difficult temperament
• Describe various roles of the father which research has shown us.

  • Grossman (2002) found that fathers have more of a play and stimulation role
  • Field (1978) found fathers can be primary caregivers and adopt the behaviours of mothers
• According to Schaffer and Emerson, the most common second attachment formed was with the father.

  This was the case in 27% of the initial sample and at 18 months 75% had formed an attachment with their father.

  However, the role of fathers has significantly developed since then and many men are more hands-on with their children than in the 1960s.
• 𝗚𝗲𝗶𝗴𝗲𝗿 (𝟭𝟵𝟵𝟲):

  • Found that fathers had a different but equally important role from the mother 
  • The mother is associated with care and nurturing the child
  • The father is more about fun and playing with the child
  • From this, we get the idea of the father's role as 'the fun dad'
• 𝗚𝗿𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗮𝗻 (𝟮𝟬𝟬𝟮):

  • Conducted a longitudinal study looking at how the quality of relationships between parents and children changed from infancy to the teenage years
  • It was found that the early attachment to the mother was a better predictor of what the teenage relationship was like
  • It seems the father is less important to later development than the mother in terms of nurture
  • However, Grossman found that if the father had engaged in active play with the child when they were young, the adolescent relationship with BOTH parents was strengthened
  • This supports Geiger's work
• 𝗙𝗶𝗲𝗹𝗱 (𝟭𝟵𝟳𝟴):

  • Field found that if the father was the main PCG from before attachment began (before 6 months) then they took on more of a maternal role
  • They were seen to be more nurturing and caring than the traditional father role
  • This demonstrates that there is flexibility in the role of the father and how men can respond to the different needs of their children
• Different research seems to state different facts about fatherhood as they are all looking for different things- there is a lack of consistency in the research
• Why don't more men become the PCG if they are capable of this as Field suggested?

  This may be a nature or nurture issue as men lack estrogen, or maybe they are less willing to take the caring role due to stereotypes
• 𝙋𝙍𝘼𝘾𝙏𝙄𝘾𝘼𝙇 𝘼𝙋𝙋𝙇𝙄𝘾𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉𝙎:

  If the father can take the role of the mother as well, then this has implications for society:

  • Paternity/maternity leave
  • Custody of children: Men gaining more equality in this
  • Role modelling parental skills in young men
  • More societal acceptance of the single father
• 'Father' does not specifically refer to a baby's biological parent - it refers to the child's closest male caregiver.
• A strength Grossman's research is that a longitudinal study can establish a cause-and-effect relationship, increasing the reliability and validity of his findings.
• Grossman suggests that fathers have a play and stimulation role, whereas the mother provides emotional development.
• 𝙁𝙄𝙀𝙇𝘿 - 𝙋𝙍𝙊𝘾𝙀𝘿𝙐𝙍𝙀:

  Field filmed 4-month-old babies in face-to-face interactions with their PCG mothers, PCG fathers, and SCG fathers.
• 𝙁𝙄𝙀𝙇𝘿 - 𝙁𝙄𝙉𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙎:

  Field found that PCG fathers, like PCG mothers, spent more time smiling, holding, and imitating the baby than the SCG fathers did. These are examples of behaviours commonly seen during reciprocity and interactional synchrony (parts of the process of attachment formation).
• 𝙁𝙄𝙀𝙇𝘿 - 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝘾𝙇𝙐𝙎𝙄𝙊𝙉:

  Field's findings suggest that fathers have the potential to be emotion-focused primary attachment figures. They can provide the responsiveness required for close emotional attachment, but perhaps only express this when given the role of PCG.
• 𝙂𝙍𝙊𝙎𝙎𝙈𝘼𝙉 - 𝙋𝙍𝙊𝘾𝙀𝘿𝙐𝙍𝙀:

  Grossman conducted a longitudinal study during which babies' attachments were studied until they were in their teens. The researchers looked at both the parents' behaviour and its relationship to the quality of their baby's later attachments to other people.
• 𝙂𝙍𝙊𝙎𝙎𝙈𝘼𝙉 - 𝙁𝙄𝙉𝘿𝙄𝙉𝙂𝙎:

  Grossman found that the quality of the father's play with the baby was related to the quality of adolescent attachment.
• 𝙂𝙍𝙊𝙎𝙎𝙈𝘼𝙉 - 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝘾𝙇𝙐𝙎𝙄𝙊𝙉:

  Grossman suggests that fathers have a significantly different but equally important role to mothers - one involving play and stimulation rather than emotional development.
• Do social stereotypes prevent fathers from providing emotional care?

  Fatherhood has evolved across cultures, embracing greater depth and complexity. However, fathers face stereotypes of being emotionally detached and solely responsible for financial support. These perceptions are reinforced by societal expectations and sometimes even by mothers.
• Are there biological reasons why men should not be the ones to provide emotional care?

  Rather the opposite - a 2011 study found that men's testosterone levels fell by around a third in the days and months after their partner gave birth. The researchers said 'the more caring side of a man's character emerged as levels of the hormones fell'.
• 𝙇𝙄𝙈𝙄𝙏𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉 - 𝘾𝙊𝙉𝙁𝙇𝙄𝘾𝙏𝙄𝙉𝙂 𝙀𝙑𝙄𝘿𝙀𝙉𝘾𝙀:

  • Findings vary according to the methodology used. Longitudinal studies (e.g. Grossman) have suggested that fathers as secondary attachment figures have important roles in their child's development, involving play and stimulation.
  • This would lead us to believe that children growing up with homosexual parents/a single mother would develop differently, however, studies consistently show that there is no difference at all.
  • The question as to whether fathers have a distinctive role remains unanswered.
• 𝙎𝙏𝙍𝙀𝙉𝙂𝙏𝙃 - 𝙍𝙀𝘼𝙇-𝙒𝙊𝙍𝙇𝘿 𝘼𝙋𝙋𝙇𝙄𝘾𝘼𝙏𝙄𝙊𝙉:

  • Research into the role of the father can be used to offer advice to parents.
  • It can combat stereotypes, such as stay-at-home mothers and working fathers, where these situations may not be the best economic option for the family.
  • For example, heterosexual parents can be informed that fathers are quite capable of becoming the PCG.
  • Further, lesbian-parent or single-mother families can be informed that not having a father figure around does not affect a child's development.