L3: The role of the father

• What does the research suggest about attachment to fathers?

  Evidence suggests fathers less likely to become babies' primary attachment fig. compared to mothers.
• How does this link to Schaffer and Emerson's study?

  • maj. babies became attached to mothers: 7 months
  • 3% babies had father as first sole obj. of attachment
  • 27% of cases: father joint first object of attachment with mother.
• What was a further finding regarding Schaffer and Emerson?

  • fathers -> important attachment figs. later
  • by 18 months: 75% babies had formed attachment with father
  • babies showed protest when father walked away (separation anxiety) - attachment behaviour.
• Grossman et al (2002)

  • longitudinal study (babies' attachments studied until they were teens)
  • looked at both parents' behaviour + its relation to quality of babies' later attachments to other ppl.
  • quality of attachment with mothers related to adolescence (not fathers)

  This suggests attachment to fathers is less important than attachment to mothers.
• What else did Grossman et al find?

  • quality of father's play with babies related to quality of adolescent attachments

  This suggests that fathers have a diff. role in attachment - one which is to do with play and stimulation and not emotional support.
• What is the significance of being a primary attachment figure?

  • primary attachment fig. has special emotional significance
  • relationship with primary attachment fig. forms basis of all later attachments
• Tiffany Field (1978) - fathers as primary attachment fig.

  • filmed babies at 4 months old in face-to-face interactions with:

  1. primary caregiver MOTHERS
  2. secondary caregiver FATHERS
  3. primary caregiver FATHERS
• What did Tiffany Field find?

  • primary caregiver mothers + fathers spent more time smiling, imitating + holding the babies

  -> important in reciprocity and interactional synchrony

  
  

  conclusion

  • fathers DO have potential to be primary caregivers; can provide responsiveness needed for close emotional attachment (emotion focused role)
• quality of care

  • last couple decades: emphasis put on father sensitivity NOT father involvement
  • quality of time with child more important than quantity of time
• Ang (2006)

  • Asian boys with poor relations with fathers -> + aggressive at school
  • suggests fathers play role in attachment dev.: -ve relationship -> severe conseq.

  HOWEVER

  • study is ethnocentric -> can't generalise to Western cultures b/c child-rearing is diff.
  • lack info. about role of father in attachment in individualistic cultures
• Grossman (2002)

  • quality of attach. with father less influential in adolescence (comp. to mothers)

  HOWEVER

  • quality of father's play determined qual. of later relationship
  • father fulfils qualitatively different role to mother - play + stimulation vs emotional supp.

  This role is just as crucial to the child's wellbeing.
• Biblarz and Stacey (2010)

  • emotional + soc. dev. equal in heterosexual and homosexual families
  • suggests not sex of parent which determines attachment dev.; quality of stim. and care

  This suggests there is no specific "role" a father should play in attachment.
• limitation: conflicting evidence

  point: findings vary according to methodology used

  evidence: longitudinal studies (Grossman) suggest fathers have a distinct role (play and stim.)

  -> suggests children growing up in single-mother/lesbian-parent families would turn out diff. to heterosexual families

  • studies (e.g., McCallum and Golombok 2004) show these children DO NOT turn out differently

  explanation: this is a limitation as it means the question as to what role the father plays in attachment is unanswered

  link: limitation - conflicting evidence b/c research has low validity + is useless
• + real-world application

  point: can be used to offer advice to parents

  evidence: mothers feel pressured to stay at home due to stereotypical views

  -> research gives insight to parents; helps fathers be primary attachment figs.

  explain: strength b/c means parental anxiety is reduced and it is beneficial to the father

  link: strength - real-world application b/c ecological validity