The role of the father

• Caregiver vs attachment figure

  There is a difference between a primary caregiver and a primary attachment figure.

  • a primary caregiver is the person who spends most time with a baby
  • a primary attachment figure is the person to whom the baby has the strongest attachment

  Often the same person fulfils the 2 roles
• primary attachment is usually with the mothers but sometimes both

  • Schaffer and emerson (1964) found that the majority of babies became attachment to their mother first
  • in only 3% of cases the father was the first sole object of attachement
  • in 26% cases the father was the joint first object of attachment with the mother
• 75% eventually form secondary attachments with father


  in 75% of babies studied, an attachment was formed with the father by the age of 18 months. this was indicated by the fact the babies protested when their father walked away, a sign of attachment
• a distinctive role for the father (grossman 2002)

  • grossman (2002) carried out a longitudinal study looking at parents behaviour and its relationship to the quality of children’s attachment in their teens
  • he found that quality of attachment with the father was less important for adolescent attachment than with the mother
  • therefore fathers may be less important in long term emotional development
• what did grossman also find

  • however, Grossman also found that the quality of fathers play with babies was related to quality of adolescent attachments. this suggests that fathers have a different role to play in attachment, one that it more to do with play and less to do with emotional care
• fathers can be primary attachment figures

  • some evidence suggests that when fathers do take on the role of being the main caregiver, they adopt behaviours more typical of mothers
  • Field (1976) filmed 4 month old babies and found that primary caregiver fathers spent more time smiling, imitating and holding babies than secondary caregiver fathers
  • these behaviours are related to interactional synchrony and the formation of an emotional attachment (Isabella 1989)
• level of response is most important

  • smiling, imitating and holding babies (interactional synchrony) are behaviours that are important in building a primary (emotional) attachment with a baby
  • so it seems the father can be the more ‘emotional’ attachment giver
  • they key to attachment relationship is the level of responsiveness and not the gender of the parent
• one limitation is confusion over research questions


  some psychologist want to understand the role of fathers as secondary attachment figures. but others are more concerned with fathers as a primary attachment figure. the forms have tended to see fathers as behaving differently from mothers and having a distinct role. the latter have found that fathers can take on a ‘maternal’ role. this means psychogists cannot easily answer the simple question: what is the role of the father?
• one limitation is conflicting evidence from different methodologies

  Grossman (2002) suggests fathers have a distinct role in children’s development, involving play and stimulation. however, McCallum and Golombok (2004) found that children without a father dont develop differently. this means the question of whether fathers have a distinctive role remains unanswered
• one limitation is conflicting evidence from different methodologies: counterpoint 


  findings may not be in conflict. fathers may typically take on particular roles in 2 parent hetersexual families. other family structures adapt to not have fathers. this means that findings may be clear after all - there may be a distinctive role for fathers when present, but families adapt to not having one
• one strength is using findings in parenting advice


  mothers may feel pressure to stay at home and focus on work. this may not be the best solution for all families. research on the flexibility of the role of the father can be used to offer reassuring advice to parents. this means that parental anxiety about the role of fathers can be reduced and are ting decisions made easier.