Role of the father

• Grossman - finding 1

  > AIM - Carried out a longitudinal study looking at both parents behaviour and its relationship to the quality of childrens attachment into their teens

  > FINDING - The quality of infants attachment with their mothers, but not their fathers, was related to the childrens attachment in adolescents

  > CONCLUSION - This suggests that the fathers attachment is less important then the mothers
• Grossman - finding 2

  > Finding - However the quality of the fathers play with infants was related to the quality of the childrens adolescent attachments

  > CONCLUSION - This suggests fathers have a different role in attachment - one that is more to do with play and stimulation and less to do with nurturing, but is still important for the childs well being
• Field

  > AIM - To investigate the role of the father in attachment

  > METHOD - Controlled observation

  > PROCEDURE - Field filmed 4 month old infants in face to face interactions with primary caregiver mothers, primary care giver fathers and secondary caregiver fathers
• Field 2

  > FINDINGS - Primary caregiver mothers and fathers spent more time smiling, imitating and holding infants then the secondary caregiver fathers.

  > CONCLUSION - It seems that fathers can be the more nurturing attachment figure and take on a traditionally maternal role. The key to the attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness not the gender of the parent
• Role of the father AO3

  :) Fields research has practical applications

  > Responsiveness is more important then the gender of the parent

  > Offer reassuring advice to parents in order for them to make the best decision as to who goes back to work as fathers can become the primary attachment figure

  > Therefore research into the role of the father is an important part of applied psychology
• Role of the father AO3

  :( May be a biological basis to support Grossmans findings that fathers adopt a secondary caregiver role

  > Female hormones (oestrogen) create higher levels of nurturing and therefore women are biologically predisposed to be the primary attachment figure

  > Whereas males produce more testosterone rather then oestrogen and testosterone is not associated with being caring and nurturing, suggesting the fathers role is less important

  > Therefore, there are several explanations to consider when investigating role of the father
• Role of the father AO3

  :( fathers as secondary attachment figures had a distinct role in their childs development of play and stimulation

  > Other studies have shown that children growing up in single mother or lesbian parent families do not develop any differently from those in two parent heterosexual families

  > Suggesting the fathers distinct role of play and stimulation may not solely be down to the gender of the attachment figure