The Role of the Father

• what did Schaffer and Emerson (1964) find out about the attachment to the father in their study?

  • found majority of babies became attached to their mother at around age 7 months
  • 3% of cases where father was the sole object of attachment
  • 27% first attachment was joint between the mother and father
• why do some psychologists disagree over the exact role of the father?

  • some claim men are simply not equipped to form an attachment - biological evidence, oestrogen underlies caring behaviour in women and the lack of oestrogen in men is why they are unable to form attachment
  • some argue fathers provide a different role - a playmate
  • some argue fathers can demonstrate sensitive responsiveness and respond to the needs of their children and can form a strong emotional bond
• what is the argued distinctive role for fathers by Geiger?

  • 'playmate' role rather than primary caregiver - Geiger (1996) found that a fathers' play interactions were more exciting in comparison to a mother's, however mothers' play interactions were more affectionate and nurturing
  • suggests that the role of the father is a playmate and not a sensitive parent who responds to the needs of their children - confirms mother takes on nurturing role
  • 'play' still makes an important contribution to development meaning father still plays an important role - but is this equally important to mothers role?
• what is the argued distinctive role of fathers by Grossman?

  • Grossman (2002) conducted a longitudinal study of 44 families comparing the role of fathers & mothers contribution to their children's attachment experiences at 6, 10 and 16 years old
  • fathers' play styles was closely linked to fathers' own internal working model of attachment (schema-like)
  • play sensitivity was a better predictor of the child's long-term attachment representation than the early measures of the attachment type that the infant had with their fathers
• what was the conclusion of Grossman's study?

  quality of father's play with babies was related to the quality of adolescent attachment
• what do biological differences affect when discussing the role of the father?

  • Hrdy (1999) found fathers were less able to detect low levels of infant distress, in comparison to mothers
  • lack of oestrogen in men means fathers are not equipped innately to form close attachments with their children
  • fathers role is biologically restricted
  • provides further evidence that fathers are not able to provide a sensitive and nurturing type of attachment, as they are unable to detect stress in their children
• why does Hrdy (1999) research socially sensisitive?

  • shows mothers are best at identifying infant distress means mothers will feel pressured to stay at home as they are the ones to develop an attachment with their child, not the father
  • can also be sensitive towards fathers as it suggests they don't have a role to play in bringing up their child
  • causes stereotypes to form which also cause pressure on mothers and mean that fathers can be judged for going against stereotypes
• why is MacCallum & Golombok (2004) socially sensitive research?

  • found children growing up in single-parent (or same-sex) families do not develop any differently from 'conventional' growing up
  • supports importance of the role of the father and fathers as the primary caregiver, despite biological differences (e.g.)
• why is Schaffer & Emerson's research socially sensitive research?

  • suggests fathers can develop strong attachments with their child if they are responsive to their behaviours, such as engaging in interactional synchrony, and that the gender is not important
  • Feldmans' research supports this as well
• what are the real world applications of the research into the role of the father?

  • used to give advice to parents
  • parents often agonise over decisions like who should take the primary caregiver role due to pressure of stereotypical views of mothers and fathers' role
  • research allows parents to be informed that fathers are capable of becoming PAF
  • research into single-mother and lesbian parents consistently shows children don't develop differently (McCallum & Golombok)
  • parental anxiety about role of father has been reduced
• why is inconsistent findings a weakness of the role of the father?

  • research is consuming because different researchers are interested in different research questions (role fathers have as secondary attachment figures, role as primary attachment figures)
  • some say fathers can take a 'maternal role' whereas others see fathers behaving differently from mothers and have a distinct role
  • this is a problem because psychologists can't easily answer the question 'what is the role of the father?' - findings being inconsistent means that firm conclusions can't be drawn